


Healing Wounds

by FireSlash



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-26
Updated: 2018-07-25
Packaged: 2018-10-24 06:34:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 43,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10736124
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FireSlash/pseuds/FireSlash
Summary: Copied to here from FanFiction.net: (AU). Instead of becoming Izuru as planned, Hinata manages to gain the special abilities of the Ultimate Hope while keeping his memories and personality intact. Now, Hinata must deal with an upcoming doom, scientists, a class full of ultimates, and his feelings for a certain nurse.





	1. The Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone, FireSlash here. After some consideration, I have decided to move this from Fanfiction.net to here as well. Anyways, review and enjoy :-)

"Can anyone tell me what happens after we square both sides of the equation?" a middle aged teacher asked her high school Algebra class, pointing to a rather simple problem on a chalkboard. Hinata silently groaned as he scribbled in his notebook, trying to keep himself awake. It was a Friday and this was his last class of the day. All he wanted to do was go home, seeing as he had a rough week at school. He was not only bombarded by exams, but he had arrived to school late three of the five days of the week, tripped down a flight of stairs while heading to one of his classes, and he nearly get into a fight after bumping into a group of troublemakers in the school hallways. He could not wait for this day to end.  
"Hinata, would you care to answer my question?" His teacher asked him, snapping Hinata back from his thoughts.  
"Uh...Would it cancel out the square root of X?"  
"That's correct" she said before writing on the chalkboard. Hinata let out a sigh of relief…that was a close call. Now all he had to do was not fall asleep for the next twenty minutes, which was going to be harder than it sounds…

0000  
Hinata frowned as he made his way through the school's hallways, attempting to reach his locker. It was the end of the day and all he wanted to do was go home.  
"For a school with such an elite status, you'd think they'd build a bigger hallway" he thought to himself, the school mentioned being Hopes Peak Academy, a school praised for being one of the best schools nationwide. As such, it receives various fundings from the Japanese government. To get accepted into this school, there are two requirements you must achieve. First, you must be either entering high school or already be attending one. Second, you must be the best at what you do. The talents kids are accepted for range from simple things, like being good at cooking or dancing to more extravagant skills, such as being the best gangster or just having extreme luck (yeah…that's a thing). Hopes Peak gathers these talented kids, known as 'ultimates' and prepares them for the future with state of the art facilities and faculty members who have specialized experience with the subjects they are teaching.  
With this in mind, why was Hinata complaining? Well the answer was simple, his situation is a bit different than most of the other kids at Hopes Peak. For starters, Hinata and his classmates do not have a special talent, they are just ordinary kids. They are part of the reserve program, which specializes in teaching talentless kids, at least that was the way Hinata thought about the program. It was widely unknown to the public, including the talented students who attend the school. In fact, the reserve program was not even located on the school's actual campus, actually being located directly across the street from it. In fact, it can be argued that the reserve course was technically a school of its own. The building was smaller despite the greater number of students attending the reserve program, the facilities in the school were mostly outdated, and the teachers there were just like the students, simply ordinary. Another fact about the reserve program was there was also a huge monthly fee you had to pay in order to attend the school, which Hinata thought was ridiculous.  
Even then, Hinata chose to come to this school. Why? Because he admired Hopes Peak, a lot. Ever since he was a small child, he has always dreamed of attending this 'prestigious' school. While other kids his age dreamed of being a superhero or a famous celebrity, he dreamed of graduating from Hopes Peak. After all, the idea of the fact that graduating this school meant you were set for life was extremely appealing. Unfortunately, he knew he would never make it in. After all, he had no talent. He was just another face in the crowd, the only thing going for him was his slightly cynical attitude and his huge ahoge. However, when he learned about the reserve program, he immediately jumped on the opportunity to achieve his dream. Now that he's been here for two months, he didn't even know how to feel. One one hand, he sort of achieved his dream. On the other hand, he was disappointed with the fact the reserve program was almost nothing like the actual school.  
After grabbing some books from his locker, Hinata immediately made his way towards the school's exit, not wanting to be here any longer than he needed. However, he failed to notice that two middle aged men were watching him while he was at his locker, one of them in a full dress suit, the other one more casually dressed.  
"What's his name again?" The one in the suit asked the other man.  
"Hajime Hinata" the other one responded. "I have him for literature. Why?"  
"No reason…" the dressed man stated before walking away. Once he was outside of the school, he took out his phone and began making a phone call.  
"Mister Kirigiri…I think I've found the perfect candidate for the 'Hope Cultivation Project' you've been raving about…"

0000  
Hinata crossed the street from his school, heading towards Hopes Peak's main building, seeing as this was a necessary action for him to get home. He only lived about five minutes away from the school, so he usually walked home, only taking public transportation on rainy days. Once he was across the street, he immediately began jogging to his house. He barely reached the next block before abruptly stopping, a strange sound catching his attention. It sounded like someone was both crying and moaning at the same time. Part of him wanted to find the source of the noise, for what reason he did not know. However, another part of him wanted to just walk away and head home. It was not his business as to why someone was crying and they most likely wanted to be left alone. He stood still for a second, deciding on what to do, before heading off to search for the source of the crying. Despite not wanting to butt into someone's personal life, he knew if he were to have left instead, it would nag him for life. After all…the noise seemed to be coming from a young child and who in their right minds would even think about abandoning a kid in need?  
After backtracking a bit, Hinata managed to find out where the noise was coming from, inside Hopes Peak's campus. Thankfully, there were no guards blocking the entrance, allowing Hinata to slip in with ease. While walking around the outside campus, he finally managed to find out who was making the crying noise. Under a tree laid a purple haired girl with bandages wrapped around her right arm and left leg. She was dressed in what appeared to be a nurse's outfit. She was also covered in blood and had several bruises around her body. This sight greatly surprised Hinata, seeing as not only was an injured person lying in front of him, but he seemed to be the first person to find her. If anyone else had found her, surely they would of helped her out, unless they just did not care.  
"Are you ok?" He quietly asked her, despite knowing the answer. Upon hearing his voice, the girl looked up before letting out a shriek in surprise.  
"GHAAAA!"  
"Uh sorry" Hinata apologized in a confused voice. All he did was ask her if she was okay. "Are you okay?"  
"Um…yes…I'm sorry" the girl whimpered, confusing Hinata even more. Seriously, all he did was ask a question.  
"You don't need to apologize" Hinata reassured her. "Can you stand up?"  
"I-I think so" the girl stuttered before attempting to stand up. Seeing as she had some difficulty doing so, Hinata extended his hand.  
"Here, grab on" he offered. The girl looked at his hand for a few moments, seemingly checking to see whether or not was safe to grab. Eventually deciding it was safe, she gripped his hand as he pulled her up.  
"Thank you" the girl said before letting a small giggle escape from her lips. However, less than a second later, she flinched.  
"Ah! I'm sorry for laughing out of place" she said, tears forming from her eyes.  
"What's wrong with her?" Hinata asked himself. "Is anyone picking you up?" The girl shook her head no.  
"Do you live close by?" The girl shyly nodded her head.  
"I guess I'm walking you home" he stated before slinging her arm around his shoulders, causing her to yelp in surprise. Why did he decide to walk her home as quickly as he did? He had no idea.  
"Crap, did I hurt you?" Hinata asked her.  
"N-no. I'm sorry."  
"For what? You have nothing to be sorry for, you did nothing wrong" Hinata exclaimed to her, causing the girl to shout in surprise.  
"What did I do wrong now?" He asked himself. "Anyways, what happened to you?"  
"Um…well…I was sitting under a tree…trying to do some homework when these group of people a-approached me. They told me…I was s-sitting in their spot. I apologized to them a-and offered to do anything to make it u-up to t-them. They said they needed a-a stress reliever and used me as o-one. I-I'm sorry!"  
"Don't be" Hinata growled, deeply sickened by the reasoning those people used to justify beating such an innocent looking girl. "It's not your fault. Those people were jackasses who harmed you for no apparent reason. It's them who should apologize." Upon hearing Hinata say that, the girl could only look at him, unable to react.

0000  
The rest of the walk was done in silence, except for the girl occasionally giving Hinata directions. She lived conveniently close to his house, which was a relief to him. After all, he needed to get home himself.  
"T-this is it" the girl told him as they approached an average sized house. "I-I'm sorry for putting you through all of this. If you want, you could draw on me. People say it's fun to do so."  
"Uh, no thanks" Hinata awkwardly responded. Who offers someone the opportunity to draw on them?  
"Well, I should go. My parents would kill me if I wasn't home on time" with that, Hinata turned around and began to head home. However, he was stopped when the girl yelled at him.  
"W-wait! I-If you don't mind me asking, w-what is your name?"  
"I'm Hajime Hinata" he casually greeted. "What's yours?"  
"I'm Mikan Tsumiki. I-If you don't mind, may I r-remember your name?"  
"Um sure, I don't mind."  
"T-thank you" Tsumiki stated before entering her house. Seeing as his job was done, Hinata ran home, excited for the upcoming weekend.


	2. Hope Cultivation Program

Scanning through a textbook, Hinata let out a frustrated grunt. It turned out there was a test today he completely forgot about. When it came to schoolwork, he had to rely on himself to remember anything important. He had no friends he could rely on, not because he wasn't well liked, but because students here rarely got close to one another. Granted there were several big groups of friends around the school, but those involved in them usually never display any real closeness to their peers, only above average tolerance. Because of this, he really had no one to blame but himself if he ever forgot about an important date.  
"Maybe I should have payed attention in math class instead of dozing off" he sighed. "Though it's hard to do so when the teacher sounds like an emotionless robot." Flipping through several pages, he attempted to memorize everything he learned last week. Unfortunately, the normally quiet kids in his homeroom decided that among all days, TODAY was the day to make as much noise as possible. What they were talking about, he didn't care but based on how well the day was going so far, Hinata knew he was in for a rough week.  
"Note to self, never study in homeroom ever again" he mentally told himself just before the bell rang, signifying the official start of homeroom. As such, several students hurried inside the classroom, creating more of a ruckus. A moment later, his homeroom teacher the entered classroom and immediately began to take attendance.  
"How can today get any worse?" Hinata whispered to himself after letting his teacher know he was present. Less than a second after saying that, the school's intercom turned on.  
"Hajime Hinata, please report to the principal's office. Again, Hajime Hinata, please report to the principal's office. Thank you" a man announced over the intercom, causing Hinata to sigh for the thousandth time today.  
"Me and my big mouth" he said before grabbing his book bag and exiting his classroom, heading straight for the principal's office.

0000  
Upon entering the principle's office, Hinata was greeted with the sight of two grown men conversing with one another. Hinata recognized one of the men as his principal, a short man who lacked any hair on his head. The other man, a tall fellow with purple hair and a black dress suit was someone Hinata might have seen on a photo, but he was not very sure.  
"Mister Kirigiri! Again, what a honor to see you here" the principle exclaimed. "You have not told me, but what do you want with Hinata? As far as I could tell, he has done nothing wrong…"  
"Unfortunately, that is for me and him to discuss alone" Mr. Kirigiri politely responded. Seeing this as his cue to enter, Hinata knocked on the door, getting the attention of the two adults.  
"Ah! Hinata, come in come in" the principal shouted. Doing what he was told, Hinata made his way into the room, shutting the door behind him. "Hinata, this is Mister Kirigiri, the headmaster of Hopes Peak Academy. He would like to discuss some, er, important things with you."  
"Hello Hinata. Just like your principal said, I am Jin Kirigiri, headmaster of Hopes Peak Academy. There is something very serious I would like to talk to you about."  
"What is it?" Hinata curiously asked. "I'm not in trouble am I?"  
"Certainly not" Mr. Kirigiri responded, earning a sigh of relief from the boy. "However, what I wish to discuss with you cannot be shared in the open. If you do not mind, can we head over to my office in the actual Hopes Peak campus so I can say what I wish to say in private? You will be excused from your classes."  
"Of course" Hinata answered rather quickly. Part of him was excited to see the inside of the real Hopes Peak building for the first time. However, the other part of him was nervous. It's not every day the headmaster of a prestigious school wants to see you. In fact, Hinata remembered one of his teachers saying the headmaster never entered the reserve course building unless if it was for an emergency.  
"Thank you for your time Hinata" Mr. Kirigiri said. "Are you ready to go?" With a small nod, Hinata followed Mr. Kirigiri out the room.

0000  
"Whoa" Hinata smiled upon entering the school building. The building which housed the ultimates was certainly different from the one which housed the reserve course students. For starters, the hallways were at least twice the size of the ones in the reserve course building. The walls were painted and decorated with various colors, ornaments, and pictures. The school also appeared to be extremely well kept, seeing as there were no signs of trash on the floor, a problem which the reserve course school has. Lastly, the students in the hallways seemed rather lively. At the reserve course, all the students had the same zombie like posture as they walked through the hallways.  
"Impressive isn't it" Mr. Kirigiri said. "Come, our destination is on the fourth floor" Mr. Kirigiri said before leading Hinata up several staircases. Eventually they arrived on the fourth floor, where Mr. Kirigiri directed Hinata to a rather large room. Once he entered the room, Hinata took a seat on one of the several chairs in the room while Mr. Kirigiri locked the doors, an action which caused Hinata to tense up a bit. Is the information Mr. Kirigiri is about to share with him really that secretive?  
"You might be wondering why I called you here, right?" Mr. Kirigiri asked as he sat down. "Before I tell you, you must promise to keep everything discussed here a secret. I am about to share some confidential information with you."  
"Um, sure" Hinata said. "I won't tell anyone."  
"Thank you. Now, you may already know this, but Hopes Peak Academy was founded for one purpose, to create generations of people who will keep hope alive. Because of our goal, we select the most talented kids nationwide and help them hone their skills. By doing so, we aim to prepare them for the future, teaching them how to face challenges head on in life with nothing but hope on their side. Sadly, despite our efforts, more and more people are being plunged into despair. While Hopes Peak graduates will be able to install Hope into the next generation, the question is, how long can they keep doing so? Our response to this is known as the Hope Cultivation Program."  
"Hope Cultivation Program?" Hinata asked. This was his first time hearing of such a plan.  
"Yes, the Hope Cultivation Program is a process developed by the staff of Hopes Peak which involves creating the 'perfect human.' Via surgical means, the subject will gain a variety of talents, the ability to learn something just by looking at it, and a massive increase in both physical and mental functions."  
"I don't mean to interrupt, but why are you telling me these things" Hinata skeptically asked.  
"The reason for this is because we want you to be the individual who undergoes this process."  
"Me?!" Hinata shouted. "But I don't even have a talent."  
"That's exactly why the staff at Hopes Peak chose you. You lack a talent, which means we can study the results of the experiment with a more accuracy. If a talented student underwent this experiment, it will wield more biased results. I'm not good wth explaining things, sorry."  
"No, I understand. However, I need to at least talk it over with my parents first" Hinata exclaimed. This was a pretty difficult choice to make. On one hand, he'll gain a variety of new features and talents. He'd become the protector of hope. On the other hand, he was not exactly sure if he should be making this decision by himself. This situation was bigger than anything he's ever experienced.  
"Of course" Mr. Kirigiri said. "It would be very irresponsible if we made you choose without parental guidance. We are trying to instill hope in our students, not feed them into the world of adulthood unprepared. Anyways, the staff of Hopes Peak have already notified your parents about this project and the procedures involved with it. We have mailed them a detailed explanation of the project, it's purpose, and an explanation of the surgical procedure."  
"Whew" Hinata said, releasing a sigh of relief. He wouldn't have to make this decision on his own.  
"I have another question" Hinata stated. "I know you said you'd prefer a reserve course student for this project, but why me?"  
"Why you?"  
"Yea, I mean there are probably better candidates for this procedure...so why did you pick me?"  
"Why we picked you? Well the answers simple, out of everyone in the reserve course program, you've certainly proven to us that you have the biggest heart. I've sent various staff members to observe the reserve course students and pick someone they feel would be most qualified for the experiment. Surprisingly, they picked you."  
"Um…I don't remember doing anything THAT noteworthy" Hinata mentioned.  
"That's not what the staff think. They gave me several examples to back up why they chose you. For example, on May twenty ninth, when one of the students broke their leg, you carried them the clinic without hesitation. A more recent example would include helping out the ultimate nurse, Mikan Tsumiki last week. One of our staff members caught you walking her home."  
"Wait, so that whole thing with her being injured was a setup?"  
"Absolutely not!" Mr. Kirigiri shouted, startling Hinata a bit. "The students involved with the beating were expelled immediately. Bullying is an issue this school takes very seriously. Do you have anymore questions?"  
"Yes actually, when does the operation start and what happens afterwards?"  
"We plan to start the operation on Friday, during the morning, giving you and your family enough time to decide whether or not you will go through with it. The surgery should last about a day due to how advanced the procedure will be. Afterwards, you will stay at Hopes Peak for a week so we may evaluate whether the surgery was a success or not. If it produces any unwanted side effects, we'll have to reverse the process. If the surgery proves to be a success, then you will be emitted to Hopes Peak Academy as the ultimate hope. Anything else bothering you?"  
"Nor sir, I'm out of questions" Hinata responded.  
"Very well then, talk to your parents about whether or not you will be going through with this. Let me know your answer on Friday morning, before school starts. "  
"Ok" Hinata said with a nod of understanding.  
"Come, allow me to escort you back to the reserve course" Mr. Kirigiri said unlocking the door to his office and exiting the room, Hinata following shortly after.

0000  
The rest of the day felt like it went by rapidly for Hinata. During all of his classes, all he could think about was the Hope Cultivation Program. After all, it's not everyday someone recruits you for an experiment which could alter the human body. Knowing this, Hinata was a bit conflicted about whether or not he really wanted to go through with the operation. On one hand, the operation would help him achieve his dream of attending Hopes Peak Academy as an actual student, not one involved with a side program. Secondly, based on what Mr. Kirigiri told him, he would be doing a great deed for mankind. Despite the positives to the project, Hinata still had his doubts. For example, what if something goes terribly wrong with the procedure? He could get some sort of brain damage which cannot be removed by simply reversing the procedure. There was also the fact this whole project seemed rather shady. After all, the project's goal is to enhance the performance of a human being to superhuman levels. Will the government be involved?  
Once he was dismissed from school, Hinata immediately made his way home, eager to see what his parents thought about the program.

0000  
"So Hajime" his mom said as she took a bite out of her food, referring to her son by his first name. He, his mom, and his dad were currently having dinner together as a family. "I've received news from Hopes Peak Academy that you've been selected to become the ultimate hope…"  
"Yea…" Hinata casually said, curious to see their reaction. "I had a conversation about it with the headmaster who explained the project to me."  
"Oh. Well, they've given us until Friday to discuss whether or not you should go through with this."  
"Let me say sport, even if you don't end up going through the project, you should be mighty proud of yourself" Hinata's father exclaimed. "Despite not having a so called 'ultimate talent,' you've managed to catch the eye of Hope's Peak."  
"Thanks dad" Hinata smiled.  
"I agree with your father" Hinata's mom stated. "However, right now we need to discuss whether or not you will be going though with this. The first question is, do you want to go through with this?"  
"…I do" Hinata answered after giving it some thought. "I think this will be good for humanity, that someone will be fighting for hope and the good for mankind. People will look to said person for guidance. Not to mention, if I'm accepted into Hopes Peak's main program, we will no longer have to pay for the reserve course. However, I also have some doubts. What if the experiment goes horribly wrong? What will they do then?"  
"I cannot answer that" Hinata's mom explained. "But I have the same doubts as you. There is also the fact this whole thing feels very shady. I don't exactly know why, but that's just the feeling I get when thinking about the project. I mean, altering a human being that way, is that even legal?"  
"Sure it is" Hinata's dad responded. "Keep in mind, Hopes Peak Academy is a government funded school. The money used to pay for the project comes from the government, which means they must be involved. With the government involved in this project, I don't see why this wouldn't be legal."  
"I guess your right" Hinata's mom said. "But my biggest concern is still the issue of the possibly of failure. Hajime is our son. If we lose him during the experiment…I don't know what I would do…"  
"I agree" Hinata's dad said. "But at the same time, I think our boy should still go through with the operation. From what I've heard about the staff of Hopes Peak, the operation will be done by some of the most experienced professionals around, not by some random guys who almost didn't get their medical degrees. He's in good hands. Also, once the procedure is finished, Hinata will be safer than ever. If they enhance his abilities, he won't have to worry about robbers or kidnappers. He could just fight them off or outsmart them. Not to mention the impact something like this could have on society."  
"I guess you're right" his mom said. "However, Hinata…are you sure you want to go through with this?"  
"Yes mom, I am" Hinata said, this time with more confidence. Talking about this with his family certainly helped him feel more comfortable with his decision.  
"…Very well then, I'll write you a note giving Hopes Peak permission to preform the operation" his mom said before taking a sip of her juice. The rest of the meal was eaten in silence…

0000  
After enduring three more days of torture, Hinata smiled as he looked at the official building of Hopes Leak Academy.  
"Today is the day" he whispered to himself before entering the school. "Today's the day I achieve my dream." While walking through the halls trying to reach the headmaster's office, Hinata felt a mixture of excitement and nervousness. Not only will he be attending classes with the talented students, but he will also be gaining a talent of his own. He was a bit frightened about the possibility of failure, but after talking about it with his family various times, he managed to build up some confidence. Once he reached the headmaster's office, Hinata let out a large breath of air before knocking on the door. A few seconds later, the door opened and he was let in by Mr. Kirigiri.  
"Hello Hinata" Mr. Kirigiri said before closing the door. "Have you decided whether you'll be apart of the Hope Cultivation Program?"  
"Yes I have" Hinata said before handing him the note his parents wrote. "I'll do it."  
"That's great to hear. Now, as you already know, we plan to start the operation now. As such, you will be excused from all of your classes. Come, let's make our way to the biology room, where the operation will take place" Mr. Kirigiri said before unlocking the door and exiting the room. Calming himself down, Hinata quickly followed him to the biology room.

0000  
When Hinata entered the room, he was greeted by several people who were wearing white lab coats as well as white masks which covered the lower part of their faces. Pulling out a hospital bed, they wasted no time, telling Hinata to lay down on the bed. After Hinata did what he was told, they slipped on a gas mask and began the process of anesthesia. A few seconds later, Hinata's vision faded as he fell unconscious…


	3. Testing

"Guh…" Hinata grunted as he opened his eyes. After giving his eyes a good rubbing, he began to look around, noticing that he was still in the biology room. From what he could tell, nothing in the room has changed since he was put to sleep except for the amount of staff members surrounding him. Based on what he could remember, there were supposed to be roughly ten doctors in the room. Right now, there were at least twenty people surrounding him, not counting Mr. Kirigiri.  
"I-is the operation over?" Hinata asked one of the staff members before clenching his head. For some reason, a sharp pain began to overtake his head as he began to sit up from the bed. Hinata assumed the pain was just a side effect of the operation. After all, it was not unheard of for someone to experience a bit of pain after a major operation.  
"Yes it is" one of the staff members bluntly stated as several more began to give him sour looks. Based on the man's tone, Hinata could tell he was angry about something. What exactly he or the rest of the staff were upset about, Hinata did not know. Did he offend them somehow?  
"Make sure he's perfectly healthy" the same staff member told the others. At this point, Hinata knew he was the leader of the group. "I need to speak with Mister Kirigiri for a quick second." With that being said, both the man and Mr. Kirigiri quickly exited the room as the rest of the doctors quickly began swarming Hinata, making sure the young boy was alright.

0000  
"The operation has failed" the man told Mr. Kirigiri once they exited the room.  
"What makes you say that?" Mr. Kirigiri curiously asked. "I think it's too early to tell whether the operation was a success or not."  
"Sir, the subject asked if the operation was over" the lead staff member told him.  
"And?"  
"He was not supposed to remember anything about the operation" the staff member answered as if the answer was obvious. "If he remembers the operation, then the whole procedure was a failure. We were supposed to erase all of his memories so he would have no problem utilizing various talents."  
"That may have been the original goal of the operation" Mr. Kirigiri said. "But at the same time, who's to say he can't develop new talents while maintaining his memories. Everything else went along smoothly, so there is still a chance the operation was a success. In fact, if that's the case, then it makes things simpler. We would no longer have to think of a lie to tell Hinata's parents as to why their son has lost his memory. The boy could live a normal life instead of one trapped inside the school. This unexpected development could made things a whole lot better for both us and him."  
"…I guess you're right sir" the staff member told Mr. Kirigiri upon hearing his argument. "But now how will we see if the operation was truly a success?"  
"The same way as before" Mr. Kirigiri told him. "We test him."

0000  
"How's he doing?" Mr. Kirigiri asked the doctors as he and the head staff member entered the room.  
"The boy seems to be perfectly fine" one of the staff members told him. "Well, save for a minor headache which should go away soon."  
"That's good. May I speak to him?"  
"Certainly" another staff member answered as everyone stepped away from the bed, allowing Mr. Kirigiri to get a good view of Hinata. Upon seeing him, Mr. Kirigiri immediately noticed that the boy had a large scar on his head. While it was mostly covered by his huge ahoge, it was still visible.  
"Hinata, how are you feeling?" Mr. Kirigiri gently asked him as the boy continued to rub his head.  
"I have a massive headache" Hinata said with a grunt. "Other than that, I'm fine."  
"Good. Since you're awake, I'd like to preform a small test if that's alright with you."  
"I guess it's fine" Hinata answered. "When should this headache dye down again?"  
"In about two hours" one of the staff members informed him.  
"Anything else you'd like to ask before we start?" Mr. Kirigiri asked him.  
"How long was I out?"  
"Two days."  
"What!?" Hinata shouted. "Two days! So that means today is Sunday?"  
"Yes" Mr. Kirigiri said. "Keep in mind that this was a very complicated operation. We had doctors working nonstop, new ones replacing those who showed any sigh of fatigue. Anything else you wish to ask?"  
"No, I should be ready now" Hinata replied before releasing another small grunt. His headache was really starting to bother him now.  
"Good. Now, I'd like for you to read this entire book in five hours. Once you're finished, I'll test you on the material listed in the book" Mr. Kirigiri abruptly said before handing Hinata a giant Algebra textbook. "Do you understand?"  
"Yes sir" Hinata uneasily responded, taken aback by Mr. Kirigiri's bluntness.  
"We'll leave so you can concentrate" Mr. Kirigiri said before he and the rest of the staff members quickly exited the room, leaving behind a slightly confused Hinata.  
"Why would he ask me to read this when he knows that I just woke up?" Hinata asked himself before carefully examining the object given to him. "I doubt that I even know most of the material in this thing." A few minutes later, he cracked open the book and began reading...

0000  
"And done" Hinata said as he slammed the book shut. For the past three hours, Hinata was quietly skimming the book, doing as he was told. As Hinata expected, the majority of the material taught in the book was stuff he has yet to learn. However, much to his surprise, as he looked through the book, he was easily able to memorize all the formulas and methods of solving equations in a matter of seconds. Because of this, he was able to finish the book faster than expected. The only problem he faced while reading did not come from not understanding the material, but from his headache. During the first two hours he spent reading the book, the headache proved to be a major distraction, preventing him from finishing the book at a quicker pace. Thankfully, the headache has since died down.  
Quickly glancing around the room, Hinata was trying to decide on what he should do next. He could tell Mr. Kirigiri that he was ready to take the test, but he had no idea where he was, seeing as he and his staff left the room three hours ago. Shrugging his shoulders, Hinata decided that the best course of action was to fall asleep. He was feeling rather exhausted from reading that entire textbook in one sitting like most people would.  
0000  
"Hinata…wake up" Mr. Kirgiri said as he gently shook the young man awake.  
"Huh…" Hinata replied, half asleep.  
"You fell asleep. Tell me, how long did it take you to finish that textbook I gave you?"  
"Three hours" Hinata replied, rubbing his eyes in order to wake himself up.  
"Impressive…" Mr. Kirigiri stated before giving Hinata a big packet and a pencil. "Now, the packet I just gave you is a test on all of the material that the textbook has covered. You will have three hours to take it and you may begin whenever you like."  
Looking down at the paper, Hinata immediately opened the packet and began the test, eager to get it over with. He has had enough math for today. Strangely enough, like the textbook, Hinata found himself breezing through all the questions. In fact, he answered most of the problems mentally which came as a huge surprise to him, seeing as he almost always had to do the physical work in order to obtain an answer. Eventually, he finished the test, only taking an hour to do so.  
"I must say, I'm rather impressed with how quickly you've finished this test" Mr. Kirigiri said before taking the packet away from Hinata. "I'll let you know how you did in a bit." Mr. Kirigiri then exited the room, leaving behind a lonely Hinata for the second time.

0000  
"So, how did I do?" Hinata asked Mr. Kirigiri as the man reentered the room. Giving Hinata a small glance, he placed the packet next to him.  
"Wait? I got all of them right?" He asked. Despite seeing a giant, red one hundred percent on his paper, Hinata still could not believe it. Normally when he took an Algebra test, he would consider himself lucky if he even got past a ninety percent.  
"It seems the operation was truly a success" Mr. Kirigiri stated.  
"Huh?"  
"You see, the reason you scored so high was because you were able to memorize everything explained in the book" Mr. Kirigiri explained. "The reason you were able to do so was because we increased your brain's ability to take in information. As such, just by simply watching someone do a task, you'll be able to master it with little to no practice."  
"That's…amazing" Hinata said in awe. "So you're saying I'm capable of doing anything?"  
"As long as it's physically possible, yes" Mr. Kirigiri responded. "We have also managed to heighten your senses and increase your physical strength, allowing you to preform certain tasks with ease."  
"So what happens now?"  
"Well…we continue testing until Sunday. If all goes well, you'll be sent home. Afterwards, you will attend Hopes Peak with all the other talented students as the ultimate hope. Today's tests are over so I'd recommend you rest up for tomorrow. Food will be delivered to you shortly."  
"Ok" Hinata said before Mr. Kirigiri left the room.

0000  
Hinata spent the rest of day in the biology room, relaxing. Thankfully, they brought a small television set for him to use so he was not bored to death. However, the boy spent most of his time silently thinking to himself.  
"I still can't believe that this is happening to me" Hinata told himself as he stared up at the roof. "No matter how many times its explained to me, I still can't help but be amazed by what has happened to me. It's not everyday you're invited to undergo surgery that'll make you into some sort of superhuman. I wonder what's going to happen tomorrow." After drifting off into space, Hinata decided to take Mr. Kirigiri's advice and fell asleep, wondering about what was in store for him in the future.  
0000  
"So what am I supposed to be doing?" Hinata asked Mr. Kirigiri as the entered the library of Hopes Peak, which was located on the second floor of the building. The library looked smaller than Hinata imagined it was, being about the same size as the biology room.  
"Before you can attend classes with the other Hopes Peak students, it would be wise to be on the same page as them" Mr. Kirigiri informed him. "As such, for the next two days, you'll be taught everything your future classmates have learned so far during their time at the school. Today, you'll be taught both biology and history while tomorrow you'll learn about literature, mainly how to increase your vocabulary and reading skills. You'll have a private tutor for both days and you won't have to worry about other students barging in during the lessons. The library will inaccessible to them for those two days. Do you have any questions?"  
"Shouldn't I get more time to learn the material?" Hinata skeptically asked. "It seems a little excessive for someone to learn so many things in one day."  
"While that may be the case for the average student" Mr. Kirigiri explained. "This should be no problem for you. After all, you've managed to learn Algebra in only three hours just by looking at a textbook. As such, this should be a breeze for you."  
"...I guess so" Hinata said before releasing a small inaudible sigh. He was still uneasy about this whole setup. After all, who tries to teach a child two months worth of material in only two days?

0000  
Despite all of his his doubts, Hinata was easily able to grasp all of the material taught to him during those two days. When tested on said materials, he managed to get every question thrown at him right.  
"Now that you've been prepared mentally, for the next three days, we'll be preparing you physically" Mr. Kirigiri said as he and Hinata entered the school's dojo located on the fourth floor. Much to Hinata's amazement, there were several lines of cherry trees in the dojo, each filled with pink flowers.  
"This place is pretty nice" Hinata said as he glanced around the room. "But I don't understand why I have to focus on getting stronger. I mean, is physical education really that tough here?"  
"No" Mr. Kirigiri answered. "As I've said before, the surgery has not only improved your mental capabilities, but also your physical abilities as well. As such, sending you into physical education with little knowledge of your 'new' body would be unwise. One punch from you can kill a person. To prevent any unnecessary harm, you'll be learning how to control your strength by means of learning martial arts, specifically judo."  
"Yea, I guess that's for the best" Hinata said. The last thing he wanted to do was accidentally kill someone in a game of dodgeball.  
"Indeed. Like the library, the dojo will be closed off for the day, allowing you to train in peace" Mr. Kirigiri said. "Shall we begin?"  
0000  
For the next three days, Hinata was trained by several judo masters. The first thing they taught him was how to throw a proper punch that would not cause permanent damage to a victim. Though he struggled for a bit, he eventually learned how to throw a 'safe' punch, one strong enough to do damage, but not strong enough for the damage to be lethal. From there, he was taught basic judo moves, techniques, and maneuvers, all which he mastered with little difficulty. Seeing how quickly Hinata was able to master these moves, his instructors then taught him some very advanced maneuvers. Much to everyone's surprise, Hinata was also able to master these moves just as easily as the others. In addition, when sparring against the instructors, Hinata was often able to obtain victory with ease. Once he completed his last day of lessons, Hinata was immediately transferred back to the biology room, where he fell asleep.  
0000  
"Well Hinata" Mr. Kirigiri said. "Based on your progress, we feel it is safe for you to return home tomorrow."  
"Good" Hinata replied. "It's kinda getting lonely around here."  
"I could only imagine. Before you go, I want you to stop by my office so I can give you your new schedule. After all, you'll technically be attending a new school."  
"I know" Hinata said. "Thank you."  
"For what?"  
"For picking me to be the one to become the ultimate hope. It's because of you I'm able to achieve my dream of entering your school as an ultimate."  
"No, I must thank you" Mr. Kirigiri stated. "Because of the fact you were willing to undergo this process, we will now be able to spread hope in new ways previous unimaginable. However, while you attend the school, I ask that you keep your title a secret in addition to any information regarding the Hope Cultivation Program."  
"I'll keep it a secret" Hinata said, though he was secretly upset about the fact he could not share his talent. To be honest, having the ability to call yourself the ultimate hope was a big bragging privilege Hinata somewhat hoped to exploit.

0000  
The next day, after receiving his schedule, Hinata immediately began heading home from the school. After being locked up in the biology room and dojo for nearly a week was enough to get most people to beg for freedom. After all, while he did have a television set, there were no other ways he could keep himself entertained, often causing him to fall into deep pits of boredom. As Hinata continued to walk down the hallways, looking for the exit, he failed to notice that he was about to bump into someone.  
"GAH!" That someone screamed as Hinata bumped into them, causing them to fall flat on their face. Due to Hinata's increased strength, the collision had no effect on his ability to stand. Looking down, he was surprised to see that the person he bumped into was Tsumiki, seeing as he did not expect to see her so soon.  
"Tsumiki? Are you ok?" Hinata asked before extending his hand.  
"H-Hinata?" The girl asked, staring at him for quite some time before taking his hand. Hinata gently helped her up, making sure that he did not use too much of his strength. He did not want to accidentally throw the poor girl across the hallway, causing more unnecessary injuries to her.  
"What are you doing here?" Hinata asked curiously. "Isn't today a weekend?"  
"Y-yes, but I'm in charge of the clinic" Tsumiki shy stated as she played around with her apron. "I always come here to check up o-on the medical equipment. It's party of my duty as the ultimate nurse."  
"Oh" Hinata said. "That makes sense."  
"I-I'm sorry for getting in your way" Tsumiki abruptly said before flinching, causing Hinata to remember how delicate this girl was.  
"It's fine" Hinata reassured her. "If anything, I'm sorry for bumping into you."  
"N-no it's…"  
"My fault" Hinata said, cutting her off. "I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings. If I did, then we wouldn't be in this mess." For a few seconds, Tsumiki stared at him, wondering what to say next. This was the first person in her life to not only apologize once, but twice. However, eventually she let out a high pitched scream, noticing the giant scar hidden inside his huge ahoge.  
"Gah!"  
"W-what happened?" Hinata asked, startled by the loudness of the scream.  
"Y-you're head" she said in a panic, pointing at the scar. "T-there's a giant scar on it. What happened?"  
"Oh that old thing, that's been there for a while" Hinata lied. "I was hit by a car when I was seven and it left this big scar."  
"I don't remember that being there last time I saw you" she said softly.  
"I guessed you missed it" Hinata responded with a shrug.  
"I-I'm sorry for missing such a big detail. Y-you can hit me as hard as you like. People often do so when I anger them.  
"What!? No!" Hinata nearly shouted. "Listen, I'm not going to hit you and I'm not angry at you."  
"Y-you're not?"  
"I'm not. Changing the subject, to make up for bumping into you, how about I walk you home again" Hinata said. Part of him was a bit afraid about how her walks home usually went based on all the stuff she's said.  
"That would be nice" Tsumiki said before smiling. Sadly, that smile soon turned into another flinch. "That is, if you want to. S-sorry for assuming that you'd like to hang out with me."  
"Don't apologize" Hinata said before quickly grabbing her hand, causing her to let out a little squeak. "As I said before, if I didn't want to hang out with you, then I wouldn't have asked."  
"O-okay" she said as Hinata led her to the exit of the school, not letting go of her hand until they exited the school.


	4. Meeting Everyone Part 1

"So, how do you like Hopes Peak?" Hinata asked Tsumiki as the two walked home together. Unfortunately, the first five minutes of the walk were spent with an awkward silence. Neither of them were able to initiate a conversation, Hinata not knowing what to say while Tsumiki was nearly paralyzed from nervousness, not wanting to do anything to anger Hinata. Eventually, Hinata decided to ask the girl about Hopes Peak, wanting to know what one of their students has to say about the school.  
"It's a nice school" Tsumiki quietly said. "T-the teachers are nice and there's a lot of great facilities, but…"  
"But?" Hinata asked, curious about why Tsumiki suddenly stopped speaking.  
"…Nothing" Tsumiki answered, looking away from Hinata. Even without seeing her face, he could tell he upset her somehow. Quickly thinking of a way to cheer her up, Hinata decided to ask her another question.  
"Um, so…do you like being a nurse?"  
"It's nice" Tsumiki said, a small smile forming on her face. "It's great knowing that someone may actually need your help. When someone's hurt, they listen to everything I say and they aren't mean to me, even though they usually are once they get better. B-being a nurse makes me feel like I'm needed, like I'm useful for something. It's a great feeling." Upon hearing that response, a little frown crept upon Hinata's face. In his eyes, someone like her should not be treated the way she was. After all, based on what she said, Tsumiki went out of her way to help her tormentors only for them to bully her once they have recovered from their sickness and/or wounds.  
"D-did I do something wrong?" Tsumiki asked once she saw Hinata's frown. "If you'd like, I'll take off my clothes for you."  
"What! No!" Hinata shouted in surprise. "There's no need for that."  
"You d-don't want to see me naked? Ok, then how about you take my money. Please don't hate me!" Tears began flowing from the young girl's face, scared to see what he was going to say next.  
"Listen, I don't hate you" Hinata said, trying to calm Tsumiki down. "I'm just upset that you're treated with such disrespect. From what I've seen, you're a great person who would help out anyone in need of medical attention. Someone like you doesn't deserve to be treated with such abuse. I swear, if I ever catch anyone picking on you, I'll kick their asses."  
"…" Tsumiki was struck silent by Hinata's mini speech. This was the second time he's commented on the way others treated her. To her, others bullied her because she did something to anger them. However, the boy next to her was denying any reasonings as to why others should treat her the way they usually did. For someone to stand up for her, for someone to want to defend her, was a foreign concept to the nurse. As such, the girl began smiling, which in turn caused Hinata to smile, happy that he managed to cheer her up.  
"T-thank you" Tsumiki meekly said.  
"No problem" Hinata said with a sigh of relief. Unfortunately, this caused Tsumiki to flinch and apologize again for an unknown reason, which in turn caused Hinata to spend the rest of the walk trying to calm her down.

0000  
The next day, Hinata wasted no time in getting ready for school. Today was his first day attending Hopes Peak with a class of talented students. Part of him was very excited, seeing as he will be associated as one of them from now on. He was also quite curious about what talents his peers will have, which caused him to become more excited. However, despite the excitement felt by the young boy, Hinata was also a bit nervous. There was always the chance of him being outcasted by the other students. After all, they have known each other for almost two months, which was certainly enough time to create some strong bonds with one another.  
Forcing these thoughts away, Hinata immediately scarfed down his breakfast, washed himself up, changed his cloths, and packed his book bag before bolting out of his house, eager to start his day.

0000  
When Hinata arrived at the school, he immediately took out his schedule so he could find where his homeroom was located. Scanning the paper for a bit, he eventually found the room, classroom 2-A. Putting the paper back into his bag, Hinata made his way to the second floor, remembering that he passed by classroom 2-A when he was moved to the library. With very little difficulty, Hinata eventually managed to find the classroom.  
Upon arriving, Hinata spent a few seconds standing in front of the door, trying to get rid of all the anxiety that was boiling up inside him. Eventually managing to calm himself down, he gently opened the doors to the classroom. When he did, he was greeted by the sight of four students who were each sitting quietly in the classroom.  
"Hello" one of the students said as Hinata entered the room. "Are you the new student who will be joining our class?"  
"Yea, I am" Hinata replied before analyzing the student's physical appearance. The student was a female with extremely light skin and silver blond hair which matched her skin almost perfectly. She also had light green eyes which seemed to sparkle when hit by the small amount of sun light that was able to enter the room. Lastly, she wore a brown headband with a flower decal on the left side of the accessory.  
"Splendid!" The girl said, her eyes shining with excitement. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Sonia Nevermind, the ultimate princess. I come from a small country in Europe known as the Novoselic kingdom. It is a pleasure to meet you."  
"Thanks" Hinata said, trying his best to stay calm. The last thing he wanted to do was look like an idiot in front of the ultimate princess. Based on her title and the way she conducted herself, the girl in front of him was certainty from a royal family. "I'm Hajime Hinata."  
"So you actually came" another girl said, causing both Hinata and Sonia to direct their attention towards her. Unlike the ultimate princess, the girl who spoke had short, red hair and emerald green eyes. The girl also had light skin which was even more pale than Sonia's. Lastly, she had several freckles visible on her cheeks. "To be honest, I thought you would skip school."  
"Skip school?" Hinata asked, a confused expression forming on his face. "Why would I do that? It's my first day here."  
"Wait, you don't know?" the girl said upon hearing his reply. "Attending classes here isn't mandatory. As long as you pass some big exam at the end of the year, you're allowed to do whatever you want."  
"Really?"  
"Yep, but don't even think about skipping now! You're already here so you might as well stay."  
"I-I don't plan on leaving" Hinata said, surprised by the girl's forceful tone.  
"Good. Anyways I'm Mahiru Koizumi, the ultimate photographer" the girl greeted. "And the girl next to me is the ultimate traditional dancer, Hiyoko Saionji."  
"Yep! I'm Hiyoko Saionji" the girl next to Koizumi stated in a childish voice. Like Koizumi and Sonia, Saionji had light skin. However, instead of green eyes she had light gold ones. She also had long blond hair that was tied into two banana shaped ponytails. She was almost a foot shorter than both Sonia and Koizumi. Lastly, instead of the brown Hopes Peak uniforms, Saionji wore an orange kimono with a green obi sash tied around her waist.  
"Hi" Hinata greeted. "I'm Hajime Hinata."  
"Hm…you seem like a good target" Saionji said with an evil grin. "You'll be fun to play with."  
"Saionji, please leave the new student alone" Koizumi said, releasing a small sigh. "We don't need anymore incidents."  
"Aw…fine" Saionji said with a pout. Upon hearing that, Hinata immediately made a mental note to stay away from the girl.  
"Tch. You say that every time, yet you still go on to do something fucking stupid" a light skinned boy said from the back of the room. Like Saionji, he had blond hair and gold eyes. There was also a set of freckles on top of his nose. Lastly, there were a set of natural blush on his cheeks. "Oh, and new kid, the name's Fuyuhiko Kuzuryuu. I'm the ultimate Yakuza. Don't fuck with me and you'll be able to keep all of your fingers by the end of the year."  
"G-got it" Hinata nervously said before taking as seat in one of the desks located in the front of the room. He's only met four students so far and he could already see the diversity of his class.

0000  
The next five minutes were spent in silence. Sonia read a book, Kuzuryuu took a small nap, Hinata stared into space, and Koizumi shared a snack with Saionji. Eventually, the silence was broken when a girl with pink hair barged into the classroom.  
"Hello everybody, I'm Chisa Yukizome, your new homeroom teacher" the woman excitedly exclaimed before looking around the room. "Wait, there's only five of you?"  
"Where's Mister Kizakura?" Kuzuryuu asked, a bit grumpy that his nap was disturbed.  
"Well…lets just say he had too much to drink" Yukizome said. "So I'll be taking over from now on."  
"Wait…staff members are allowed to drink during the school week?" Hinata asked. From what Hinata could remember, one of the main rules for teachers at the reserve course was you were not allowed to drink during the school week. Granted it was a dumb rule, but he was still curious as to whether or not the rule applied to every teacher from Hopes Peak.  
"Yep!" Yukizome cheerfully explained. "You might not think so, but we are human beings, just like you guys. Anyways, only five of you guys? This will not do, not at all!"  
"Pft. She seems easy to break" Saionji said with a small giggle. "I give her three days tops before she winds up in the hospital."  
"Don't worry, your teacher has many health insurance plans" Yukizome said said, not fazed by Saionji's comment.  
"I must commemorate you on that" Sonia stated, impressed.  
"Are they all needed?" Hinata asked. "I think one is enough. It's not like you're going to war or something."  
"You can never be too safe" Yukizome said with a proud huff. She was about to say something else when the classroom doors flew open, a familiar purple haired girl dashing inside the classroom.  
"I-I'm sorry that I'm late" Tsumiki said, gasping for air. "I was…Gah! Hinata?! W-what are you doing here?"  
"Oh, hey Tsumiki" Hinata greeted, slightly surprised by the fact she was here. To be honest, he did not expect for her to be one of his classmates. "Well, it seems like I'm part of your class now."  
"Really? That's nice" Tsumiki said, a hint of excitement in her voice. However, her demeanor quickly changed, Tsumiki quickly becoming nervous. "U-um, if you don't mind, may I sit next to you?"  
"Sure" Hinata shrugged as the girl began to sit down. However, as she did so, she tripped over one of the desks, causing her to land in a very…lewd position.  
"Gah…please don't look!" Tsumiki shouted as she tried to stand up. However, she was unsuccessful.  
"How did that even happen?" Hinata asked before giving Tsumiki his hand, the girl quickly grabbing onto it.  
"Again?!" Saionji said with a snicker. "This is the twenty seventh time this month. Geez, you really are clumsy."  
"I'm sorry" Tsumiki said before sitting in her seat.  
"Accidents happen" Yukizome stated, catching everyone's attention. "But moving on, something very drastic has come to my attention."  
"What is it?" Kuzuryuu asked with a scowl.  
"That you are all a batch of rotten oranges!" Yukizome shouted in a triumphant attitude, earning her several confused looks.  
"I don't think that's a good thing" Koizumi deadpanned.  
"It's not, which is why I plan on freshening you up" Yukizome explained. "Right now, we need to find the rest of your classmates. The first step to ripening you all is to strengthen your friendships."  
"And why do I have to act all buddy buddy with everyone?" Kuzuryuu asked, clearly annoyed by the concept. In response to his outburst, Yukizome tossed a knife towards him, nailing a piece of the wall behind him. This action greatly shocked everyone on the room, especially the boy closest to the knife.  
"It's to strengthen your resolve, which is your hope" Yukizome said with a smile. Still bitter about having a knife thrown at him, Kuzuryuu grabbed the collar of her shirt.  
"You must have some balls, throwing a knife at me" he growled. However, Yukizome was not intimidated by him, instead wearing an innocent looking smile.  
"Well, it did get your attention" she said with a smile. After staring at her for a few seconds, Kuzuryuu smirked.  
"I like you" he said. "Fine, I'll help you with your friendship thing."  
"Good" Yukizome said with a smile. "Now, do you all know where your classmates are?"  
"I think so" Koizumi said, still a bit shaken by the thrown knife. "They usually hang out in the same areas every day."  
"Good, then everyone split into groups of two and let's find everyone!" Yukizome excitedly exclaimed before everyone began to split up. In less than a minute, the pairs were formed. Saionji immediately grabbed onto Koizumi before anyone else could take her. Sonia did the same with Kuzuryuu, much to the boy's dismay. However, it was not caused by any negative feelings felt towards the princess, but the fact she was squeezing him way too hard due to sheer excitement. With those two groups formed, Hinata and Tsumiki made up the third one, Hinata initiating the invitation. Eventually, everyone left the room in search for their classmates, each group given three specific students to chase after.

0000  
"So, you said she should be here right?" Hinata asked Tsumiki as the two approached the middle of the school's campus. Looking around, Hinata could not help but admire the scenery. Along with the main school building, there were several well buildings in the campus.  
"Yes" Tsumiki stated. "The only thing is, how are we going to catch her?"  
"Catch her?"  
"A-Akane Owari is the ultimate Gymnast" Tsumiki informed him. "She's always training around here. Koizumi is always trying to bring her to class, but Owari always runs away from her."  
"Oh" Hinata said. "This may pose a problem. For now we should focus on finding her. When we do, we'll figure out a way to bring her back to class."  
"I-I think I found her" Tsumiki said, pointing to a shadow of a person. Glancing up, Hinata was greatly shocked to see a tan skinned girl running on top of the school building before jumping down. Doing a few flips and using a nearby tree to slow her fall, the girl managed to land in front of the two safely.  
"Well that was quick" Hinata whispered to himself as the girl walked up to them.  
"Yo! Didn't know I had an audience" Owari said before glancing at Hinata. "Uh, who are you?"  
"I'm Hinata, your new classmate."  
"Oh, right" Owari said before rubbing her head. "I forgot that we were getting a new kid. Let me guess, you're here to bring me back to class, right?"  
"How did you know that?" Hinata asked, somewhat impressed by the fact she knew what they were here for.  
"Gut feeling" she responded, shrugging her shoulders. "But anyways, the only way I'm coming back to class is if you catch me."  
"Wait wh-" Hinata said before being cut off by the sight of Owari running off into the distance. "Great, she's gone."  
"W-what now?" Tsumiki quietly asked him, glancing at the direction where Owari ran off.  
"I guess I'll have to catch her" Hinata groaned before turning his attention to the nurse. "Stay here, I'll be back." Hinata then immediately ran off towards the direction Owari ran off to, eager to catch her.

0000  
Flying past a group of people, Owari let loose a small grin. Having been used to people trying to bring her back to class, the girl always made them chase her. Why? Well, because it was fun seeing others try to match her speed and agility. After all, she was the ultimate gymnast meaning very few people could even keep up with her. However, this time may be different.  
Hinata was slowly catching up to her and much to Owari's surprise, he wasn't tired yet. Normally, those who chased her would quit by now, but the boy wasn't backing down. Letting out a small chuckle of excitement, the girl knew she needed to step up her game if she was going to loose Hinata. Spotting a nearby lamppost, Owari jumped forwards before clinging onto the metal pipe. Quickly climbing up the pole, she then pounced off it, catching onto the ledge of a nearby building. Scaling up the building, Owari glanced back and was surprised to see that Hinata was able to copy all of her actions perfectly.  
"Thank gosh for advanced learning capabilities" Hinata said as he mimicked Owari's actions. The operation was the only reason why he was able to keep up with her.  
When she got to the top of the building, she waited for Hinata, flashing him a smile when he made it up the building in less than a second after her.  
"Hey, you've got some skill" Owari said, wiping away some sweat which was forming on her head.  
"Thanks" Hinata said, his voice shaky from the fact he was literally on top of a building. Granted he was impressed by the fact the operation enhanced his physical abilities enough to allowed him to keep up with the gymnast, but he was a bit nervous. After all, who wouldn't be in his position. He wasn't used to doing anything this extreme. "Now, can we please go back to class."  
"No way, you still haven't caught me yet" Owari said before turning around. She was about to jump down when she felt something grab her wrist. Looking behind her, she was surprised to see Hinata gripping her wrist.  
"You shouldn't have turned around" Hinata told the athlete as she tried to escape the genetically altered boy's grip. However, as hard as she tried, she was unable to escape. Eventually she gave up.  
"Fine…you win" Owari said with a pout. "I'll come back to class with you."  
"Good" Hinata said, releasing the girl. "Now quick question, how the hell do we get down?"

0000  
Eventually managing to find a way off the building, Hinata and Owari met up with Tsumiki and the began to track down the second student they needed to bring to class, a boy named Nekomaru Nidi. Under Owari's lead, the three made their way to one of the boys bathrooms where the boy was supposedly residing.  
"Really…" Hinata groaned. "Among all of the places he could possibly be, he's in here?"  
"Yep" Owari said. "Old man Nidi is always taking a dump every chance he gets."  
"Old man?"  
"That's just a nickname I call him" Owari casually said.  
"S-so what do we do now?" Tsumiki asked. "W-we could wait for him, but k-knowing Nidi, that might take awhile."  
"I'll go in and talk to him" Hinata said. "Maybe I could convince him to come back to class once he's done."  
"Ok. G-good luck" Tsumiki nervously said before Hinata entered the boys bathroom.

0000  
When Hinata entered the bathroom, he was greeted by a very foul stench. Immediately covering his nose, he then began checking all of the bathroom stalls to see if they were locked, managing to only find one that actually was. He was about to knock on the door when the floor began vibrating. Panicking, Hinata immediately jumped back, stepping far away from the closed stall. A few seconds later, a loud grunting noise was emitted from the stall.  
"GRAHHHHHHHHHHH!"  
"What the hell?" Hinata said as the grunting died down, followed by the flush of a toilet. A few seconds later, a tall, muscular male emerged from the stall, making his way to the sink.  
"U-um excuse me" Hinata said, a bit intimidated by the boy's appearance. Sure he had become much stonger due to the Hope Cultivation Program but this dude was unbelievably muscular. "Are you Nekomaru Nidi?"  
"Yes, that's me" the boy said with a grunt. "I AM NEKOMARU NIDI, THE ULTIMATE TEAM MANAGER!"  
"I-I'm Hajime Hinata" Hinata greeted after recovering from the loud booming noise emitted from the muscular teen. He sure was loud…  
"Your voice is too soft!" Nidi stated. "Try again."  
"I'm Hajime Hinata."  
"LOUDER!"  
"I'M HAJIME HINATA!" Hinata shouted, hospitals hat Nidi wouldn't make him repeat himself again.  
"That's better" Nidi stated before letting out a satisfied laugh. "Anyways, what do you need from me?"  
"Um, I'm here to bring you back to class" Hinata said. "Apparently you guys have a new homeroom teacher who's been trying to gather everyone back to class to 'strengthen our hope.'"  
"Very well then, I will accompany you!" Nidi exclaimed.  
"Really?" Hinata asked, glad to see that Nidi was not going to make him do anything stupid like Owari did.  
"Yep. To be honest, I was going to go to class, but then my body decided it was time to take a shit!" Nidi exclaimed.

0000  
After grabbing Nidi, Hinata and Tsumiki made their way towards a nearby bending machine. According to Tsumiki, the last student they were hunting down, a boy named Nagito Komaeda, often spends his time there.  
"Why does he hang out here?" Hinata asked the nurse. "Seems like a strange place to be."  
"H-he's always testing his luck there" Tsumiki stated. "Sometimes the machine gives you two cans instead of one. I'm sorry for not knowing much!"  
"It's fine" Hinata said, still not used to her sudden outbursts. This time he didn't even do anything to cause the nurse to apologize. Shrugging his shoulders, Hinata began to approach the bending machine, noticed that a boy with wild white hair was currently trying to buy a drink.  
"Seems I'm not lucky" the boy said with a small sigh before inserting another coin into the machine. Unfortunately, all the machine did next was shake, not spitting anything out.  
"…I don't think that machine works" Hinata said as he approached the boy.  
"No, it works" the boy said, turning around to face Hinata. "It's just that sometimes the machines choose not to give you anything. And I'm supposed to be the ultimate lucky student."  
"Are you Nagito Komaeda?" Hinata asked the boy, knowing from Tsumiki that the boy they were looking for did hold the title of ultimate lucky student. However, he knew from countless hours of research on Hopes Peak that there can be more than one ultimate lucky student. Each year, Hopes Peak held a raffle to determine which non talented high schooler gets the honor of attending Hopes Peak as the ultimate lucky student.  
"Why yes I am" the boy calmly responded. "Though I wonder what you could possibly want from trash like me."  
"Great, another pessimist" Hinata thought to himself before speaking. "Well, I'm supposed to bring you back to class."  
"Ah. But I've never seen you in class before" Komaeda said.  
"Well that's cause I'm new…"  
"Wait, you're the new student we were informed about" Komaeda said, his eyes beginning to gleam. "Tell me, what is your talent?"  
"…I can't tell you" Hinata responded.  
"Oh…" Komaeda nodded, a bit disappointed. "Well then, I'll come back to class with you." As Komaeda began to turn around, the front of his foot gently tapped the bending machine, causing it to light up and spew out nearly fifty cans.  
"Well, seems I'm lucky after all" Komaeda said with a smile. While the boy appeared to be a calm individual, Hinata could sense that something was very off about him. Shrugging those feelings aside, he helped Komaeda bring his cans back to class.


	5. Meeting Everyone Part 2

"I don't think you should of wasted so much time on worthless trash such as myself" Komaeda told Yukizome as he stacked up his soda cans next to his desk. Just as Hinata expected, his group was the last to arrive to class. After all, it did take awhile for Hinata to track down Komaeda and he did have to chase Owari around the school. All that did take a lot of time to accomplish when added together.  
"You're not trash!" Yukizome shouted, starting many of her students. "You're a rotten orange!"  
"That's not any better" Kuzuryuu scoffed. Behind him, a girl with silver hair, red eyes, and a bamboo sword nodded in agreement.  
"Anyways, let me see if I got everyone" Yukizome stated. "I already know that Saionji, Koizumi, Sonia, Tsumiki, Kuzuryuu, and Hinata are here…"  
"Hinata?" A light skinned boy with purple hair, a beanie, and a yellow jumpsuit asked. "Wait! We got a new kid?"  
"A new kid!" A girl behind him shouted. She had pale skin and green eyes. In addition, she had long multi-coloured hair which consisted of the colors black, pink, blue and white. On the top on her head, some of her hair was tied up to look like two horns. Lastly, she had several piercings on her ears and face. "Why was Ibuki not informed about this!? We could have had such a killer party today to welcome him."  
"I don't think that is necessary" Hinata told her, secretly flattered by the fact someone would throw a party just to welcome him to their class.  
"Oh, did Kizakura not inform you about Hinata?" Yukizome asked her class, confused.  
"No" a light skinned girl with short, pink hair responded, looking up from the handheld system she was playing with. In addition to her pink hair, she also had pink eyes. She was currently wearing a dark green sweater. "He was drunk last Friday…I think."  
"Of course he was" Yukizome sighed before pointing at Hinata. "But anyways, this is Hajime Hinata, our newest student. He'll be in our class from now on. As for his talent…I have no idea." Upon saying that, Yukizome quickly flipped through a folder she kept inside her desk which contained information about all of her students. However, much to her surprise, the files about Hinata did not list his title.  
"Mister Kirigiri even kept the operation a secret from Yukizome?" Hinata mentally asked himself. "But why? I get it was top secret, but I expected the faculty to know about this."  
"Hinata, what is your talent?" Yukizome asked him, snapping Hinata back to reality. Quickly glancing around the room, he noticed that everyone was staring at him.  
"I'm sorry, but Mister Kirigiri told me not to tell anyone" Hinata said, hoping that Yukizome would not push the subject. After giving him a suspicious look, Yukizome eventually responded.  
"Well if Mister Kirigiri said to keep it a secret I guess you don't have to tell us" Yukizome told him, a frown forming on her lips. She stopped pressing the issue rather quickly for Hinata's comfort, seeing how determined she was to bring the rest of her students back to class.  
"A secret huh?" A boy wearing a long, black jacket asked out loud. The boy had extremely pale skin and black hair which was gelled to make it point upwards. His two eyes were of different color, one which was grey while the other was red. Lastly, he had a purple scarf wrapped around his neck. "Perhaps this mortal's talent is something powerful enough to destroy the Earth, despite his average human appearance."  
"Average?" Hinata asked, slightly offended.  
"Well that doesn't matter now" Yukizome said, diverting everyone's attention to her. "Right now, it's time for me to take attendance. Is Teruteru Hanamura here?"  
"Yes ma'am" a boy dressed in a chef's outfit slickly said before letting out a small whistle. He was a very short and chubby kid with tan skin. He had small black eyes and his hair was styled in a pompadour like shape. "It would be a shame if I… kept you all waiting."  
"Grrrr…Ibuki's getting goosebumps" the girl with the horned hair said, creeped out by the perverted tone Hanamura used while speaking.  
"Is Nagito Komaeda here?"  
"I'm here" Komaeda calmly said as he finished stacking his soda cans.  
"Ok. Is Ibuki Mioda here?"  
"Here here!" The girl who constantly referred to herself in third person chirped.  
"Ryota Mitarai?"  
"I'm here" a boy with short, light brown hair said. In addition to his blown hair, he had hazel eyes, rosy cheeks, and a rather heavy build.  
"How about Chiaki Nanami?" Yukizome asked.  
"Here" the pink haired girl bluntly stated once she heard her name. A second later, she let out a loud yawn.  
"Nekomaru Nidi?"  
"PRESENT!" Nidi shouted, causing everyone to wince.  
"Akane Owari?"  
Owari let out a huge grunt as she stretched out her back. "Yo!"  
"Ok, so Owari's here" Yukizome told herself. "How about Peko Pekoyama?"  
"I am present" the silver haired girl sitting behind Kuzuryuu calmly stated. Hinata thought he was imagining things but he was pretty sure Pekoyama was carefully observing his every move. To be honest, she was kind of scaring him.  
Yukizome nodded before calling out another name. "Kazuichi Souda?"  
"I'm here" the boy in the yellow jumpsuit casually said as he scratched his head.  
"Alrighty. Last but least, is Gundham Tanaka here?"  
"Indeed I am" the boy with the scarf stated before laughing. "Remember this name, for I am the man who will one day rule this entire world!"  
"Ok" Yukizome said with a smile, clearly not fazed by Tanaka's weird speech pattern. "Now that attendance is over, let us begin-"  
"Holt! I must ask a question!" Tanaka shouted, interrupting Yukizome.  
"Huh? What is it?"  
"I wish to know the reasoning for gathering us in this singular room? Your mortal ruler said that students do not have to show up to classes and that all we have to do is pass the final exams."  
"Mister Kirigiri did say that" Yukizome told him. "But the truth is, none of that matters!"  
"Huh? What do you mean?" Koizumi asked, confused.  
"The reason why you all don't attend classes is because you believe in your talents, right?"  
"Uh, yea" Mitarai responded.  
"While it's good that you have faith in your talents, you all lack something very important, strong relationships."  
Hinata shot her a confused look. "Relationships?"  
"Yes!" Yukizome ecstatically shouted. "There's more to life than just talent. Interacting with others will build character and help you make wonderful memories. These memories will help form the foundation of a powerful hope which talent cannot even achieve! So let's make something more important than talent shine: your hope! Who's with me!"  
"I am" Komaeda immediately said. "I came to this school in order to witness the hope created by the best of the best and I plan to achieve my goal."  
"I dunno" Souda responded. "This kinda seems silly to me..."  
"I shall join Komaeda" Sonia said, ignoring Souda. "It seems like a splendid idea." Upon hearing that, Souda perked up.  
"On second thought, this seems like a wonderful idea, yes it does" Souda enthusiastically said, clearly trying to impress the ultimate princess.  
"If the she-cat is fine with this, then so am I" Tanaka stated, casting a small glance at Sonia.  
"Really? How wonderful!" Sonia exclaimed, clearly happy that Tanaka was on board with Yukizome's idea. Meanwhile, Souda's face dropped, upset that the princess was not paying him any attention.  
"Count Ibuki in!" Mioda shouted.  
Nidi shrugged. "Why the hell not. I'll join!" Everyone else in the room nodded in agreement.  
"Great! From this day forward, I plan to see you every school day, got it?" Yukizome asked. She was met with enthusiastic nods from the class.  
"Seems like I didn't miss much" Hinata thought to himself. "But anyways, I can already see a clear difference between here and the reserve course."

0000  
"Ok, maybe there's too much of a difference between the two" Hinata whispered to himself as Owari let out a battle cry before running up towards Nidi. She unleashed a flurry of punches and kicks, trying to damage the bulky teen. Unfortunately for her, Nidi was easily able to block all of Owari's hits before firing a powerful punch of his own, sending Owari flying across the classroom. To be honest, Hinata did not know how this all started. One moment Yukizome was preaching about creating bonds then the next moment she left the room for a second, a substitute teacher taking her place. A few minutes later, the fight between Owari and Nidi broke out. Granted it was a sparring match, jut it was still a fight.  
"Do they always do this?" Hinata asked the closest person to him, which so happened to be Tsumiki.  
"Uh y-yes" the nurse stated. "Owari is always sparring against Nidi. A-apparently she enjoys fighting."  
"Oh" Hinata said in response. "They don't seem to be too good at it."  
"H-huh?" Tsumiki asked, giving him an adorably confused look.  
"Well, there were several ways both Nidi and Owari could of ended the fight. For example, if Owari landed a swift but powerful kick to Nidi's legs, then he would have fallen, putting him at a major disadvantage."  
"Oh. Um Hinata? Are you a fighter yourself?" Tsumiki asked.  
"Not really" Hinata lied, knowing that could not tell her anything about what happened when he was taught how to fight after undergoing the Hope Cultivation Program.  
"T-that's good" Tsumiki said, a sigh of relief escaping from her lips. "To be honest, I don't like watching people fight. It makes me uncomfortable seeing people harm one another."  
"Hey, if you're uncomfortable now, do you want to head outside for a bit?" Hinata asked her. "You won't have to see this."  
"That would be nice" Tsumiki smiled. Unfortunately, the smile soon turned into a flinch, something Hinata noticed was a common occurrence for Tsumiki. "That is, if you're ok with hanging out with somebody like me!"  
"I've said this before, but if I didn't want to hang out with you, then I wouldn't have asked" Hinata gently stated. Normally a situation like this would irritate Hinata. However, for some unknown reason this was an exception. He was not annoyed by Tsumiki, in fact, he felt bad for her. What type of life does she have that causes her to ask whether she's a nuisance or not?  
"I'm sorry!" Tsumiki exclaimed, quickly looking away from Hinata. She was expecting for him to hit her right across the face. However, she was extremely surprised when Hinata gently placed his hand on her head.  
"Tsumiki, you have nothing to be sorry for" Hinata said, a genuine smile forming on his face. "You did nothing wrong. Come on, let's get out of here." With that being said, the two made their way to the door, exiting the classroom.

0000  
"Whew" Hinata sighed as he sat against the wall. The two were currently in the school's hallway, right outside of their classroom. "It's a good thing we got sour of there. Now we can have some peace and quiet."  
"Y-yea" Tsumiki said as she took a seat next to Hinata. The poor girl was still trying to comprehend what happened between her and Hinata a few minutes ago. She was pretty sure he was going to hit her and declare that he no longer was going to talk to her. However, instead, he gently touched her head and told her that there was no reason for her to apologize to him. When that happened, it caused the nurse to feel something she almost never gets to experience…comfort.  
"Are you ok?" Hinata asked, snapping the nurse back to reality.  
"Y-yea" Tsumiki lied. Unfortunately for her, Hinata was able to see right through the lie. Thankfully, he didn't pursue it, believing that she was still rattled by the fight going on inside the classroom.  
"If you say so" Hinata said with a small shrug.

0000  
"Hey Munakata, it's me, Yukizome" Yukizome whispered into her cell phone. A few minutes before the fight between Owari and Nidi began, Yukizome excused herself from her class in order to make an important phone call.  
"Hi Yukizome" a male voice calmly said from the phone. "How is your investigation coming along?"  
"I have found nothing so far" Yukizome disappointedly said.  
"That's fine. It's unlikely that you would find something on the first day" Munakata told her.  
"Wait! Actually, there is something interesting I've learned" Yukizome informed him. "The class I am currently instructing has received a new student."  
"I don't see the significance of this discovery" Munakata said.  
"I'm getting to that! Anyways, apparently the student was instructed by Jin Kirigiri to keep his title a secret."  
"Why would he do that?" Munakata asked. "Do you know his title?"  
"I don't" Yukizome said.  
"How about their name?"  
Yukizome softly nodded. "His name is Hajime Hinata."  
"Keep an eye on that boy. Hopes Peak is hiding something sinister and something tells me that boy may be the key to finding out what Hopes Peak is hiding."  
"Understood."

0000  
The next five minutes were spent in silence. Tsumiki was fiddling with her apron while Hinata attempted to take a short nap. Unfortunately, his nap was disturbed when he heard the sound of someone falling. Opening his eyes, he noticed that Nanami was lying down on top of his lap, all her attention focused on her gaming device.  
"Uh…are you ok?" Hinata asked Nanami, confused as to why she was outside the class.  
"Huh?" Nanami asked, looking up from her game before glancing at her surroundings. "…Oh, sorry Hinata."  
"It's fine" Hinata said before gently removing her from his lap. Taking a quick glance at her game, he immediately recognized the game she was playing. "Is that Gala Omega?"  
"Huh, you've played this game before?" Nanami energetically asked. "It's a classic right? Right?!"  
"Y-yea" Hinata responded.  
"You've got to show me your game" Nanami said in a commanding tone, clearly excited that someone else owned such an old game.  
"Sure" Hinata nodded. "Can I ask why you are out here?"  
Upon hearing the question, her face dropped. "I…needed to get out of there. It seems like our class isn't good at becoming a team…I think."  
"I think it's too early to judge" Hinata said, trying to comfort her. "It's only been one day and based on what Tsumiki said, those two spar all the time."  
"…I guess" Nanami said, focusing on her game. "I wish my gaming skills would help me earn some friends."  
"Where's this coming from?"  
"…Did I say that out loud?" Nanami asked. "Oh. Well, it's just that my games are not helping me make any friends."  
Hinata gave her a puzzled look. "Well, do you enjoy playing video games?"  
"Of course I do" Nanami stated.  
"Then why not bring in some games that others can play alongside you."  
"You mean like a multiplayer game?"  
"Yea. How about tomorrow we bring in several games, set up a television, and share the games with our classmates?"  
"…That sounds nice" Nanami said with a smile before going back to her game. While the girl was an expert on video games, it seems like socializing was not one of her strongest skills.

0000  
The next day, Hinata arrived early to class. Upon entering the classroom, he noticed Souda tinkering on a television screen with Nanami standing next to him, playing with her game girl.  
"Hey Souda and Nanami" Hinata greeted, walking towards them.  
"Hey uh, Hinata right?" Souda asked, trying to remember Hinata's name.  
"Yea, it's Hinata. Did Nanami ask you for help?"  
"Yea, she did" Souda replied. "When she presented the idea, I knew this would be a good way to impress Sonia. Once she sees my video game skills, she'll instantly swoon."  
"Are you even good at video games?"  
"No" Souda pouted. "But I'm pretty sure I can beat everyone else, well except for Nanami."  
"Uh, well I wish you luck" Hinata told him.  
"Thanks" Souda said before plugging a wire into the television set. "And done! The TV's all set."  
"…Are you sure this will work" Nanami asked Hinata.  
"It will" Hinata confidently said before picking up a controller. "You guys want to play a few rounds while we wait for everyone else?"  
"Hell yea!" Souda shouted, snagging another controller. "I might as well get some practice in before Sonia shows up."  
"…I'll also join" Nanami stated as she picked up the second to last controller. "So, what do you two want to play first?"

0000  
After a few minutes of debating, the three students decided to play a quick racing game. As expected from the ultimate gamer, Nanami was first, skillfully navigating through the track. In second place was Hinata who was right on her tail, that is, until Nanami separated the distance between the two by throwing a rock at Hinata's character. In lat was poor Souda who was struggling to get past the obstacles layer out on the track.  
"Man these controls are so weird" Souda grunted just before he landed off the edge. "Damnit!"  
"These controls seem fine to me" Hinata stated as he managed to avoid a barrage of attacks coming from Nanami.  
"Well that's probably 'cause you've played this game so many times" Souda retorted.  
"I've only played this game three times…"  
"What!? But you're so good at this game!"  
"I think you're just bad at this game" Nanami bluntly said as she crossed the finish line, Hinata crossing shortly after.  
"Greetings classmates" Sonia cheerfully said as she entered the room. "What are you doing?"  
"We're playing some video games" Hinata told her. "W-"  
"-Want to join us?" Souda asked, immediately cutting Hinata off.  
"May I?" The princess asked, her eyes gleaming with excitement. "That would be wonderful." Sitting down next to Nanami and Hinata (much to Souda's disappointment), Sonia picked up the controller and began playing.

0000  
"How did I loose again?" Souda asked as Nanami, Hinata, and Sonia passed the finish line. Despite being good with machines, his video game skills were very below average.  
"Pah! What a foolish display of skill" Tanaka said from behind them. A few minutes after Sonia's arrival, the rest of Hinata's class began to arrive, each of them captivated by the television set inside the room. As such, a crowd immediately formed around the four students playing the game.  
"…I think we should play a different game" Nanami told her classmates. Glancing at Souda, Hinata nodded in agreement.  
"Yea, good call."

0000  
The next game played was a fighting game where the purpose of the game was to be the last person standing. Noticing the group that formed behind them, Hinata, Nanami, Souda, and Sonia offered their controllers to Nidi, Owari, Kuzuryuu, and Tanaka respectively. As such, the four were quickly mashing the buttons on their controllers, eager to win. Unfortunately for Kuzuryuu and Owari, Tanaka and Nidi easily knocked their characters off the stage. Due to them being the last two left, Nidi and Tanaka were engaged in an intense battle with one another.  
"Give up you lowly human mortal" Tanaka told Nidi. "You're foolish to believe that you could beat a dark lord as powerful as I!"  
"There's no way I'm giving up!" Nidi shouted as he attempted to knock out Tanaka's character. Despite the team manager's effort, Tanaka was able to eventually knock Nidi off.  
"What! But how!"  
Tanaka smirked. "Like I've said before, a low life like you could never defeat the great and powerful Tanaka."  
0000  
After Tanaka's victory, the controllers were handed to Koizumi, Mioda, Tsumiki, and Yukizome who had just arrived to class. The teacher was happy to see her students getting along so quickly.  
"Who's idea was this?" Yukizome asked as played the game. Instead of playing the fighting game, the four girls were playing a game which involved removing blacks by blowing them up with bombs.  
"It was Hinata's" Nanami informed her. "…I think."  
"Hinata huh?"  
"Um, instructor Yukizome, I think you've placed too many bombs on the map" Koizumi exclaimed, pointing to the screen. Seeing as Yukizome somehow managed to cover a big portion of the room with bombs, when the bombs exploded, is was big enough to kill everyone who was playing, resulting in a game over.  
0000  
"Man, I thought you had ultimate luck" Souda told Komaeda. The two were playing a virtual version of Monopoly with Pekoyama and Mitarai. Komaeda was in dead last while everyone else was near the finish line. Shrugging his shoulders, Komaeda pressed one of the buttons on his controller which made him roll some virtual dice. Managing to get all sixes on the dice, Komaeda let out a small chuckle.  
"Seems as though my luck has returned" Komaeda said as his character went passed everyone else's, winning him the game.  
"How the hell is that even possible?" Kuzuryuu asked.  
"See? You can make friends with games" Hinata told Nanami.  
The pink haired girl smiled at him. "Yea…I guess you're right… I think."


	6. Spiked Food and Gangsters

"Hey everybody, lunch is ready!" Hanamura shouted as Saionji and him entered the room, dragging behind them a giant cart. On it were several plates, utensils, and a giant pot filled with freshly made soup. Upon seeing the soup, Owari attempted to reach the pot, but was unsuccessful due to Nidi holding her back.  
"Let me go old man!" Owari shouted, drool coming out from the girl's mouth. "I'm so hungry right now I can eat the entire school!"  
"No!" Nidi told her as she continued to struggle. "Every time you get to the food first, it's gone by the time everyone else gets on line! So until everyone gets a serving, you're staying right HERE!"  
"Give me that food!" Owari shouted as everyone else went towards Hanamura, eager to eat the food cooked by the ultimate chef. After everyone grabbed a plateful of soup, Nidi released Owari, who made a mad dash towards the pot as everyone sat down against the walls of the classroom. Taking a large spoonful of soup, Hinata prepared to scarf down the soup when he suddenly stopped. Taking a small sniff of his soup, he immediately noticed something was wrong with it, there was something in this soup that did not normally belong in food. Taking another smell, Hinata immediately picked up the scent of an unknown chemical. While the odor of the chemical was masked by the smell of the soup, Hinata was still able to detect it due to the increase of his senses obtained by the Hope Cultivation Program. Despite the possibility of the chemical being used to enhance the flavor of the dish, Hinata did not want to take any chances.  
"Don't eat the soup!" Hinata shouted before anyone was able to eat their soup, earning him some confused glances by his classmates as well as angry stares from both Owari and Kuzuryuu.  
"Why the fuck not" Kuzuryuu growled, clearly wanting to eat.  
"Hanamura, what did you add to this soup?" Hinata asked, turning his attention towards the chef.  
"Uh, you know, some vegetables, sauces, pieces of chicken, stuff you normally find in soup" the short boy responded. "Why do you ask?"  
"Did you add any chemicals to this?"  
"Unless you count passion as a chemical, I didn't add anything."  
"Are you sure?" Hinata asked. "'Cause there's something in this soup that's giving off a chemical like smell."  
"Hey, he's right" Owari said after intensely smelling the dish. "Ya didn't spike this did ya?"  
"What the hell are you two talking about?" Kuzuryuu asked. "I don't smell anything."  
"Keep in mind, Owari has a fantastic sense of smell" Komaeda informed the gangster. "Her nose can detect odors most people would miss. A talent worthy of an ultimate."  
"S-spike! I did no such thing" Hanamura exclaimed before pulling out a silver suitcase from his desk. "If I wanted to spike any of you, I would have used one of the many chemicals and potions I carry around with me at all times." Opening the suitcase, he glanced at all of his chemicals, before releasing one of them was missing.  
"W-what! One of my chemicals is missing!" Hanamura screamed, alerting his classmates. "Someone must have stolen it!"  
"Which one?" Souda asked, scared.  
"My aphrodisiac!" He stated. "Where the hell is it?!"  
"Why are you even carrying those things in the first place?!" Koizumi shouted at him, angry about the fact he was carrying such dangerous chemicals.  
"N-no reason" Hanamura said.  
"I'm impressed about how Hinata was able to pick up the aphrodisiac's scent from the soup" Komaeda casually stated. "That takes quite a lot of talent."  
"Yea yea, that's all fine and dandy, but now we have to throw this stuff away seeing as some asshole decided to spike our food!" Kuzuryuu angrily explained.  
"I think you're all over exaggerating" Saionji said, rolling her eyes. "Hanamura is the ultimate chef, he probably added something to the food that's giving off the chemical like smell."  
"That is possible…" Mitarai stated. "But how do you explain the missing chemical in Hanamura's case?"  
"The idiot probably forgot it back home or something" Saionji told him, rolling her eyes. "Plus…Hanamura's not the only person perverted enough to think of spiking the food." She then took a quick glance at Souda as if saying he falls under that category.  
"I would never do something like that!" Souda shouted. "Where would I even get a bottle of aphrodisiac from anyways?"  
"If you're so confident this food isn't spiked, then why don't you eat it first" Hinata said to Saionji. The boy could easily tell she was lying, another talent he picked up due to the Hope Cultivation program. He had quite a bit of practice picking up lies during his week long stay at Hopes Peak Academy. While Saionji was a pretty good lier, she was not as good as several of the scientists of Hopes Peak, who's lies he was able to see through by the third day of testing.  
"Huh?" She asked him. "Why do I have to do it? Can't somebody else do it, like Tsumiki?"  
"Why are you always asking me to do dangerous stuff?" Tsumiki asked her.  
"Well" Hinata said, angered by the fact Saionji often put Tsumiki through dangerous tasks. "You're the one who's confident the food isn't spiked. You might as well eat it, unless you're lying."  
"W-why would I lie?" Saionji asked, trying to act innocent. Unfortunately for her, Hinata saw right through her act in an instant.  
"Either eat the food or admit you were lying" Hinata told her. After spending a few seconds thinking about what to do next, Saionji let out a huge sigh, realizing that she could not beat Hinata.  
"Fiiine… I may have dumped the whole bottle of aphrodisiac into the soup."  
"Gah!" Mioda shouted. "If Hinata didn't stop us, Ibuki's hormones would have been going haywire right now."  
"Why would you do that!?" Koizumi asked her. "Don't you know how dangerous that was?"  
"I do" Saionji casually said before snickering. "But the danger factor completely cancels out when compared to how funny you would have all acted if you ate the soup."  
"Be thankful that Hinata here stopped us" Kuzuryuu growled. "Or else I would have kicked your ass."  
"Aw, is baby face angry?" Saionji mockingly asked, causing Kuzuryuu to stand up, a clear expression of rage planted on his face.  
"Oh now you're getting it!" Kuzuryuu shouted before running towards Saionji, curling his hands into fist. However, before he could even make it halfway, he was stopped by Hinata, who began to restrain him.  
"Let me go!" Kuzuryuu shouted as he continued to struggle. Despite his small size, he was very strong. Unfortunately for him, Hinata was far stronger than any normal person, making his struggle worthless.  
"Kuzuryuu, she's not worth it" Hinata told him, glancing over at a scared Saionji. While he did believe the girl deserved some karma, she didn't deserve to get pounded into next week.  
"HINATA'S RIGHT!" Nidi shouted.  
"I'm pretty sure she's learned her lesson" Souda explained. "I mean just look at her, you've scared her to death..."  
"That bitch nearly poisoned us!" Kuzuryuu shouted.  
"It wasn't going to kill us" Hinata informed him.  
"I don't give a fuck! She still spiked my food!" Kuzuryuu shouted. Unfortunately, all of Hinata's words had no effect on the Yakuza as he continued to struggle. Seeing how determined the ultimate gangster was, Hinata knew he had to end this quickly, or else someone would get hurt. Glancing through his options, he realized that his only option was to knock him out. Trying to convince Kuzuryuu to stop would take too long with his state of mind.  
"Sorry about this" Hinata whispered to Kuzuryuu before quickly striking him with his left hand, effectively knocking the gangster out.

0000  
"Well, today was certainly something" Hinata told Tsumiki as the two began their walk home together. After classes were over, Hinata began walking home when he saw Tsumiki following him. Quickly guessing what she wanted, he offered to walk the nurse home, who after letting out a startled scream, accepted the offer.  
"Y-yea, it was" Tsumiki said, rubbing her hands in a nervous fashion. "I really thought Saionji was going to get hurt. T-thankfully you managed to diffuse the situation before she got hurt..."  
"Yea, thankfully I did."  
"H-h-however, at the same time, you've endangered yourself" Tsumiki said, sounding a bit more nervous than usual.  
"What?"  
"Y-you did knock out the ultimate gangster, and he is probably going to be looking for r-revenge tomorrow." Upon hearing her say this, Hinata's eyes widened in realization of his actions. He knocked out a Yakuza, said Yakuza will most likely be very angry tomorrow. Not only did he knock out a Yakuza, but he knocked out THE Fuyuhiko Kuzuryuu, future heir to the Yakuza gang. As such, he had not only endangered himself, but his entire family as well. There's no telling what the ultimate gangster was willing to do for revenge.  
"Damnit!" Hinata shouted. He was supposed to have super intelligence. How did he not think of the consequences beforehand? Was it because of the heat of the moment got to him, causing him to panic? He may be an enhanced human being, but he was still human.  
"I-I'm sorry!" Tsumiki shouted, snapping Hinata back to reality. "I shouldn't have been thinking about that!"  
"It's fine" Hinata said. "In fact, I'm glad you brought that up. It means you care for my safety."  
"So you're not mad at me?" She asked, tears forming.  
"Not at all" Hinata reassured her. "To be honest, you've made me quite happy. It's kinda embarrassing actually." Upon hearing Hinata say this, Tsumiki's eyes began to water. A few seconds later, she threw her arms around him, crying tears of joy.  
"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"  
"For what?" Hinata asked, startled by her sudden reaction. "I should be the one thanking you for worrying about my safety."  
"I-it's just, no ones ever said anything that nice to me before."  
"R-really?" Hinata asked, surprised.  
"Y-yea" Tsumiki said as her crying slowed down. "U-usually, no one cares about my feelings nor my opinions. H-hearing someone say t-that they d-do care fills me with such joy."  
"Well you better get used to having someone care" Hinata softly said with a smile. "Because I do care about anything you have to say, whether it deals with your opinions, some facts you know, or how your feeling." Upon hearing this, Tsumiki began to cry harder. Trying to comfort her, Hinata pulled her into a hug, the two of them staying this way for a few minutes before they continued their walk home.

0000  
"Ngh, what happened?" Kuzuryuu asked as he sat up from the bed he was laying on. Glancing around the room he was in, the gangster noticed he was inside his dorm room. At Hopes Peak, students are given the options of either living in the school or with their legal guardians. Seeing how he was involved with a dangerous gang, Kuzuryuu decided to dorm, believing he would be safer here.  
"You went on a blind rage once you found out Saionji spiked our food with aphrodisiac" a familiar voice told him. Looking at the general direction the voice came from, Kuzuryuu noticed that Pekoyama was standing near the doorway, staring at him.  
"How the hell did I get here?" Kuzuryuu asked her.  
"After Hinata knocked you out, he and I brought you here" Pekoyama exclaimed. "To be honest, it did look like he felt rather guilty."  
"Tch, he better feel guilty" Kuzuryuu growled, silently thinking for a few minutes before speaking again. "But at the same time, I'm kinda glad he did what he did."  
"Hm?"  
"Despite the fact Saionji's a brat, I'm glad I wasn't able to do anything serious to her. You know how much I hate pointless violence." Looking at the shorter boy, Pekoyama knew this to be true. Unless he had a good reason to, he wouldn't hit anybody.  
"I know. However, she did spike our food…"  
"The chemical wasn't going to kill us" Kuzuryuu grunted. "The worst it was going to do was make us horny as fuck, maybe cause us to pass out for an hour tops. If anything, we've suffered worse. We could just prank her or something to get revenge later. Also, don't forget we're supposed to be laying low right now. Last thing I want is to be exposed for doing something stupid."  
"…" Pekoyama stood silent, giving him a look of understanding.  
"Anyways, did I miss anything else?"  
"No young master" Pekoyama replied. "Nothing else of significance took place today."  
"Damn it Peko, what did I tell you about calling me that?" Kuzuryuu asked, irritated. "I don't care that you work for me, I want you to call me 'Fuyuhiko' or 'Kuzuryuu' ok?"  
"Yes young m-Fuyuhiko" Pekoyama said, nodding before suddenly blurting something out. "I don't trust him."  
"Who, Hinata?"  
"Yes" Pekoyama informed him. "Hinata is certainly dangerous and there is something about him which makes me awfully suspicious."  
"Calm down, he seems like a decent person" Kuzuryuu told her. "I mean, only someone like him would defend someone like Saionji."  
"While you do have a point, I'd recommend exerting extreme caution around him until he has shown to be fully trustworthy. This was only his first day of class. Who knows if his personality will change in the future."  
"Tch, can't argue with that" Kuzuryuu said. "We'll keep an eye of him…for now."

0000  
The next day, Hinata was making his way to homeroom when he was stopped by a girl who looked very pissed at him. The girl had long, blond hair and permanent blush marks, reminding Hinata of Kuzuryuu.  
"Hey!" She shouted at him. "You were one of those talentless kids in my class. What the hell are you doing wearing the official Hopes Peak Uniform?"  
"Uh, I now attend the talented course of Hopes Peak" Hinata informed her. Unfortunately, this caused the girl to become more angry than she was already.  
"How the fuck did someone as boring as you get accepted to Hopes Peak when I didn't?!" She shouted. "Like seriously, I forgot about your existence until it was announced in class that you wouldn't be attending the reserve course anymore."  
"…" Hinata decided to stay silent, not wanting to anger the girl any more. Unfortunately, it did not work.  
"Well? Are you going to answer me or are you going to stand there and continue to give me that stupid ass stare?"  
"Sorry, but I can't tell you" Hinata finally told her.  
"Fine! Be that way" the girl growled at him. "I don't really care anyways."  
"Weren't you just pressuring me to answer the question a second ago?" Hinata thought to himself.  
"Tch, anyways, don't think you're such a big shot just because you got accepted into the main course before I did..."  
"Natsumi! Leave the kid alone" another voice said, causing the two to turn around. Upon doing so, they noticed Kuzuryuu staring at them, arms crossed.  
"Calm down big brother, I was just testing to see if this boy was worthy enough to be in the same class as you" the girl said with a mischievous snicker.  
"…What the hell am I going to do with you" Kuzuryuu groaned.  
Natsumi just shrugged before turning towards the reserve course building. "I'm done here. I'll see you later Fuyuhiko." She then began walking towards the building, leaving Hinata and Kuzuryuu by themselves.  
"She certainly is…something" Hinata whispered to himself.  
"Yea, she is" Kuzuryuu muttered, managing to hear Hinata's whisper. The two stood around in awkward silence for a few minutes before Kuzuryuu spoke.  
"Listen, we're cool" he told Hinata. "I don't hold anything against you for what you did to me yesterday."  
"Really?" Hinata asked, surprised.  
"Yea. I admit, I may have overreacted a bit when I found out about our food being spiked."  
"A bit?"  
"Don't push it" Kuzuryuu growled, causing Hinata to shut up. He was just thankful the ultimate gangster did not hold any ill feelings towards him.

0000  
Humming a small tune to himself, Hinata began to take out several books out of his old locker, which was located in the reserve course building. During his lunch break, Hinata realized that several of his old books were still in his old locker. There were also some other personal items still in the locker as well. Because of this, Hinata decided to make his way into the reserve course building to retrieve his stuff.  
As he walked to his locker, he noticed several of the reserve course students giving him looks of envy, jealousy, and even hatred. Though Hinata knew why they were doing so, the looks still made him uncomfortable.  
Grabbing the last of his belongings, Hinata began to make his way to the exit of the building when he heard shouting coming from one of the classrooms.  
"I swear, if you do anything to hurt her!" A feminine voice shouted from the classroom. While Hinata would normally have left by now, he could sense the fact the girl yelling was on the verge of punching the person she was talking to based on her tone. As such, Hinata made his way to the classroom, peering inside once he arrived to his designation. What he saw was a girl with grey, curly hair arguing with another girl who Hinata immediately recognized to be Kuzuryuu's sister, Natsumi.  
"Ha! Like you're capable of hurting me" Natsumi taunted, angering the other girl even more. "Don't forget who my family are."  
"…Even though you're part of an 'important' family, you'll never be as good as her" the other girl said after taking a deep breath. "You'll always be a low life scum compared to Mahiru!"  
"Mahiru? Is she talking about Koizumi?" Hinata thought to himself as he continued to listen.  
"You shut your fucking mouth!" Natsumi shouted back at her, looking equally enraged. "By the time I get to her, she'll be nothing!"  
"I'm going to kill you!" The other girl shouted as the two girls curled up their fists. Seeing this as his cue to intervene, Hinata immediately dashed forward, breaking through the crowd of people which had formed around the two girls, and placed himself in between them as both girls attempted to strike each other. Seeing as Hinata was in between them, they winded up hitting him instead. Despite them putting their full strength into said punches, Hinata did not flinch. Less than a second later, both girls pulled back, surprised by Hinata's intervention. The girl with the curly hair was about to say something when she was interrupted by a voice familiar to Hinata.  
"Sato?" Koizumi asked, glancing at the girl with a worried expression. "What's going on here?"  
"…Nothing" Sato replied before making her way to the exit of the classroom. "Let's go."  
"…Ok" Koizumi said as she followed her friend, not wanting to push the issue further in fear of making Sato angrier than she already was. Once the two left, Hinata began to walk out of the classroom when he was stopped by Natsumi.  
"Hey, you've got some balls" Natsumi said to him before making an intimidating look. "But next time don't fucking mess with me, unless you want both of your legs broken."


	7. Changing the Future

Luck worked in mysterious ways. One day you can find a ten dollar bill and think you are the luckiest person alive, the next day you drop your phone in the toilet after using the bathroom. Nobody knows this better than class seventy seven's ultimate lucky student, Nagito Komaeda. The boy's luck has put him through several situations, both good and bad. When he was young, he was kidnapped by a man who mistakenly thought of him as the son of an extremely wealthy family. While sending time inside the sack the man hid him in, Komaeda found a lottery ticket. When his kidnapper let him go, realizing Komaeda was not the boy he was after, he found out the ticket had the current winning lottery numbers. To Komaeda, his luck was like a double edged sword, it could either help him immensely, or it could lead to the pain and suffering of him and anyone else who happened to be in the same location as the white haired boy.  
While Komaeda has managed to accomplish many incredible feats, the one most significant to him was being offered a spot in Hopes Peak Academy's main course. Every year, Hopes Peak hosted a lottery where they would place the names of all the 'normal' high school students nationwide and pick a name at random. The person picked will have the honor of attending the prestigious school as the ultimate lucky student. This is exactly what happened to Komaeda.  
Though he refused the offer at first, he eventually decided to attend Hopes Peak for one reason, for the sake of hope. Komaeda had an unhealthy obsession with the topic, always attempting to spread hope wherever he went. Sadly, due to his…unique personality, his efforts did little to spread hope to the mass. This time, he believed things would be different. He would be attending classes with the most talented students in the nation. If he could raise their hope, Komaeda reckoned the 'untalented' people of the world would follow the path themselves, seeing how the talented students were admired by everyone in Japan.  
Unfortunately, during the first month of school, he made little progress. Due to the diversity of his classmates, most of them barley talked to one another, almost all of them not even bothering to show up to classes. While Komaeda tried to raise their hopes, the other students immediately shut down any of his ideas. If anything, he creeped them out with his nonstop rambling about hope. However, the second month is when everything began to change. Two additional people were added to the class, one of them being Chisa Yukizome, class seventy seven's new homeroom teacher. The young woman attempted to raise everyone's hope by convincing them to attend all of their classes. While Komaeda thought the idea was good in theory, it did very little but cause the destruction of a classroom. He did give her props for trying though.  
The second addition of the class on the other hand, was someone who caught the interest of the ultimate lucky student. This person happened to be Hajime Hinata, the newest student to his class. When he first met Hinata at the vending machine, he knew there was something special about the boy. His theory was confirmed the next day when Hinata managed to unite the entire class through the use of simple video games. As Komaeda watched his classmates play, he noticed that by playing these games, the entire class was becoming closer to one another. Bonds between students who rarely spoke to one another were being born. He also noticed Tsumiki, the girl afraid of anything, seemed to be extremely comfortable around Hinata. The boy with the huge ahoge was able to install more hope into his classmates in one day than Komaeda was able to in a month. To him, the feat was more impressive than any other he's ever heard about. As such, he felt really lucky to have met such a boy.  
"Who are you Hinata?" Komaeda whispered to himself as he laid down on his bed. Like Kuzuryuu, the lucky student also lived in the school. "What is you're true talent? Whatever it is, I need to know. After all, you've managed to instill hope into our classmates at such a quick pace. Mark my words, I will find out your talent someday. Hope needs to be spread and you're going to help me..."

0000  
Making his way through the reserve course building for the second time in a day, Hinata quickly glanced at each classroom's number, looking for a specific one. While still in the main course building, Mr. Kirigiri managed to spot him as he began to leave the building at the end of the day. After asking him several questions, Mr. Kirigiri asked him to deliver some textbooks to a certain classroom in the reserve course, seeing as the boy knows the place better than most of the main course faculty. Not wanting to get on his bad side, Hinata decided to take on the task, which he was currently doing now.  
After finding the correct classroom and dropping off the books, he began to head towards the exit before hearing the shouts of two girls. Curiosity taking over him, Hinata made his way towards the source of the shouting. Upon finding said source, he was somewhat surprised to see Natsumi and Sato engaging in another heated argument. Granted, based on the events from earlier, Hinata could easily assume there has been bad blood between the two of them for quite a while so it should have not been surprising at all. Still, Hinata could not believe they would waist time after school going at each other's throats. Hiding behind a corner, Hinata began to listen to their conversation, ready to intervene if necessary. After all, Natsumi was a Yakuza. If she was anything like a stereotypical gang member, she would have no problem with trying to kill Sato.  
"I'm only going to say this one more time, but stay away from Mahiru!" Sato told Natsumi in an aggressive manner, referring to Koizumi by her first name.  
"Aw, how cute. Koizumi can't stand up to me so she sends her little lap dog" Natsumi responded with a snicker. "I knew she was afraid of me, and you should be as well. After all, I'm part of the biggest baddest gang in all of Japan. There is no way talentless trash such as yourself could beat me."  
"…Then what are you?" Sato asked her.  
"Huh?"  
"If you're as big as you claim to be, then why are you in the reserve course? If you were really better than me, you'd be in the main course with your brother. So then why are you here? The answer is, you're not at the level of an ultimate. You're 'trash' like all of us here at the reserve course. Mahiru is, and will always be better than you."  
"…" Natsumi stood silently for a few seconds, shocked by Sato's speech before replying. "I'm going get rid of her. I'm going to make sure she will no longer be able to attend this school anymore. When that happens, I'm going to be in the main course, just you watch."  
"Leave her alone!" Sato shouted, Natsumi's threat angering her to the point where she was about to punch the gangster. Seeing Sato curling up her fist, Hinata dashed towards her, restraining the reserve course student before she did anything drastic.  
"Sato stop!" Hinata shouted as he pulled her back. "She isn't worth it." After struggling for a bit, Sato began to calm down.  
"You're right. She isn't" Sato told him. Glancing at the two of them for a second, Natsumi took this as her cue to leave. Giving the girl a worried look, Hinata released Sato and went after the female Yakuza, not wanting bad to happen.

0000  
After a few minutes of trying to track Natsumi down, Hinata eventually found her in one of the various hallways, looking at the main course building from one to the windows. Noticing the boy's arrival, Natsumi turned around and glared at him.  
"What do you want?" She asked aggressively.  
"Listen, I know now is a bad time, but you should really stop picking on Koizumi and Sato" Hinata told her. "If you don't, then you'll probably get kicked out of the reserve course and loose any chance of getting into the main course."  
"…I don't care" Natsumi told him, tears forming around her eyes. "I don't need to be in the reserve course in order to enter the main course. I'm the ultimate little sister, I can easily get into the main course!"  
"Ultimate little sister?" Hinata asked, clearly confused by her self proclaimed title.  
"Yea, ultimate little sister. Due to my brother being the head of the Yakuza gang, that makes me the ultimate little sister. As such, I need to get into the main course to prove this to him. I don't want to get left behind."  
"So that's what's making her act the way she is" Hinata thought to himself. "She's afraid of being left behind by her brother."  
"Do you think he feels that way?" Hinata asked her.  
"Huh?" Natsumi replied, startled by his question.  
"Do you believe that if you don't get into the main course, he'll just toss you to the side?"  
"What kind of question is that?" Natsumi asked.  
"Tell me, how much do you love your brother?"  
"Tch, he's annoying, loud and bossy" Natsumi explained. "But even then, I love him, a lot. He's the only person I consider truly family."  
"What about your parents?" Hinata asked.  
"They've always been too busy to really bond with me and Fuyuhiko" Natsumi grumbled.  
"Oh…anyways, your brother cares for you deeply" Hinata informed her. "I was able to sense it the day when you confronted me about how I was able to get into the main course. The tone he used when asking 'what am I going to do with you' signifies that."  
"How the fuck does a voice's tone tell you that?" Natsumi asked him, skeptical.  
"If you don't believe me, then why not ask him about how much he cares for you? I feel like you're underestimating how much he loves you. From what I could tell, he will never leave you behind, even if you're just a reserve course student. If you're still intending to get into the main course, then show them why you're the ultimate little sister instead of bullying people. If they see this, then you're almost guaranteed a spot in the main course."  
"Tch…I guess you're right" Natsumi told him, though with a bit of doubt in her voice. "You're pretty good at making others feel better. Are you the ultimate psychologist or something?"  
Hinata shook his head. "No. To be honest, that seems like a pretty stressful job. But just remember what I told you, Kuzuryuu does care for you."  
"Yeah yeah" Natsumi grumbled. "Could you leave? I want to be alone right now."  
Giving her a small nod of understanding, Hinata left the Yakuza alone with her thoughts.

0000  
The next day, Sato made her way to the reserve course's music room. When she arrived at school, she found a note in her locker, telling her to meet the writer in the music room. Upon entering, she was shocked to see it was Natsumi who wrote the letter.  
"What do you want?" Sato growled, immediately wary of anything Natsumi has planned.  
"…Its over."  
"What's over?"  
"This feud between us" Natsumi informed her. "It's over."  
"After all the shit you've put Koizumi and I though, you're just suddenly going to back down, this seems totally suspicious. Why the hell should I trust you?"  
"Tch, you don't need to." Natsumi replied. "But from now on, I'm going to focus my time on getting into the main course so I can be with my brother."  
"What's with the sudden change of mind?" Sato asked her, still wary.  
"A certain boy with a huge ahoge managed to help me get my head straight" Natsumi told her as she began walking towards the exit of the music room. "Now if you excuse me, I need to show Hopes Peak that I'm better than all of you." With that, she left the music room. Glancing at Natsumi, Sato decided to head back to class herself. While Natsumi seemed sincere when calling the rivalry off, Sato decided to keep an eye on her just in case Natsumi was lying. The last thing she wanted was for her friend to get hurt.

0000  
Thirty minutes after Natsumi's confrontation with Sato, Hinata began to make his way to class himself. However, as he approached his homeroom, he was stopped by a certain ultimate gangster.  
"Yo" Kuzuryuu greeted. "I heard about what you did for my little sister. Thanks."  
"Uh, you're welcome?"  
"No, seriously, thank you. Her obsession with getting into the main course was out of control. It's good to have my little sister back."


	8. A Whole Lotta Fighting

The rest of the day went by fast for Hinata. Nothing of significance occurred seeing as how his classmates were surprisingly quiet in comparison to the other days he has spent with them. Owari and Nidi did not train in the middle of any classes, Saionji barely threw any insults at anyone, and even Tanaka, the strangest person in the class, was rather quiet. All in all, it was a very average day.  
After packing his bag, Hinata began to look for Tsumiki, wanting to walk home with her again. After being put into the same class as her, Hinata found himself quickly bonding with her. In fact, he currently considered the nurse his best friend. Spending a few minutes of his time searching for her, he eventually managed to find her. The girl was currently shuffling through her locker, seemingly looking for something specific, her eyes glowing when she managed to find the object. Quickly putting the object into her bag, she began scurrying away from the locker, but was stopped by Hinata.  
"Hey Tsumiki" Hinata greeted. Unfortunately, this caused the nurse to let out a shriek in surprise.  
"GHAAA! Oh…Hinata" Tsumiki said after recovering from shock. "I-I'm sorry for freaking out!"  
"You have nothing to apologize for" Hinata told her, realizing how much he's said that phrase since meeting the nurse. "It's my bad for scaring you. I shouldn't have been so sudden. Anyways, do you want to walk home together?"  
"I-I can't" the nurse said, looking down at the floor in regret. For a quick second, Hinata thought he saw fear on her face. "I-I have s-something I need to do. I-I'm sorry."  
"Hey, stuff happens" Hinata said, shrugging his shoulders. "You're a nurse after all, so you'll obviously be busy on certain days. Well, I'll see you tomorrow."  
"B-bye" Tsumiki said as the two began to walk opposite directions. However, a few seconds later, Hinata began to secretly follow Tsumiki. He knew she was hiding something which was negativity affecting her based on her facial expressions when she was talking to him, and Hinata was going to find out what it was.

0000  
After following Tsumiki to one of the various open fields of Hopes Peak, Hinata dove into a nearby bush, making sure no one would be able to find him. The nurse was just currently standing in the field, seemingly waiting for someone. Eventually, after about five minutes, three boys who Hinata believed to be upperclassmen, walked up to the nurse.  
"Listen bitch" one of the men said to her in an angry tone. "We've been waiting a damn week for our money. You better have all of it, or else things will get ugly."  
"Gah! I-I have it!" Tsumiki said before giving the men a large wad of cash. The man began counting the yen before growling.  
"The fuck! This is isn't enough!" The man growled. "We said we wanted two hundred thousand yen, this is only one thousand!"  
"I-I'm sorry! Give me another week..."  
"You've made me wait long enough" the man stated. "Now it's time for your punishment!" With that, the man swung a powerful fist at the poor nurse's face, managing to knock her out. He and his men were about to strike her while she was down, but were interrupted by a voice.  
"Don't lay another finger on her" Hinata said, coming out from his hiding place. The three boys looked at him in surprise before sending him threatening glares.  
"Who the fuck are you?" One of the boys asked.  
"The person who's going to kick your ass if you don't leave her alone" Hinata responded, hatred seeping through his mouth. How dare they attack poor, innocent Tsumiki.  
"Listen bud, stay the fuck out of this! This doesn't concern you!" One of the other boys shouted.  
"This does. You attacked my friend and are probably conning her. I see no reason as to why I shouldn't get involved."  
"How about this, you leave now and don't tell anyone, we won't kick your ass. Sounds fair?"  
"I'd like to see you try" Hinata stated, getting into a fighting position. If he was able to beat master martial artists in a matter of seconds, taking on three thugs did not worry him in the slightest.  
"Well someone seems confident. Let's see if you'll be feeling that way once I'm done with you" one of the men said before running up to Hinata. He attempted to punch the boy, but Hinata was far too quick. Throwing a massively powerful left hook, the man was knocked out in the blink of an eye. Seeing their companion go down, the other two men ran up to Hinata, eager to try to hit him. Smirking at their stupidity, Hinata ran up to them, first throwing a roundhouse kick at one of the boys, following up with a devastating uppercut on his friend. All of this took a maximum of two seconds, and the boys hit the floor, rendered unconscious by Hinata's attacks.  
"How boring" Hinata said, remarking on the anticlimactic fight which just occurred. Paying the thugs no attention, he went to Tsumiki's body and picked her up bridal style. Making his way back to Hopes Peak, he intended to take her to the nurses office. As he began walking, he was stopped by both Nidi and Owari who were drawn towards the field by the sounds of fighting.  
"Yo, what happened here?" Owari asked, glancing at the unconscious bodies. "Me and Nidi were training when we heard the sounds of punches. Did ya do all this?"  
"…Its a long story" Hinata stated.  
0000  
"I'm sorry! Please don't hate me!" Tsumiki shouted upon waking up. Glancing around the room, she was surprised to see she was in the nurses office. However, what surprised her even more was that Hinata was currently next to her.  
"H-Hinata!"  
"Hey" Hinata said with a smile. "Glad to see that you're awake."  
"W-what happened?"  
"You were knocked out by that gang of boys you gave money to" Hinata told her. Seeing her facial expression change from one of tiredness to fear, he gave her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, I've dealt with them. They won't bother you anymore."  
"Really?" Tsumiki asked, her face lighting up.  
"Yea" Hinata said, before pulling out a wad of cash. "I believe this is yours."  
Glancing at the money and then at the boy who was holding it, Tsumiki's eyes began to water, not from sadness, but from joy. Never has anyone stood up for her the way Hinata has during the short time she has known him. While Hinata mentioned multiple times that he cared about her, this single event confirmed it for the nurse. As such, she wrapped her arms around Hinata, crying into his chest. Taken aback by this move, Hinata pulled her into a hug. The two stayed like this for a few minutes before Hinata asked her a question. "Who were those guys anyways?"  
"U-um, I once took care of t-them after they got into a fight. T-they then threatened to hurt me i-if I did not give them money monthly."  
"Don't worry about having to pay them anymore" Hinata said, angry at them for taking advantage of a girl like her. "They didn't know this, but the area they asked you to meet them at has a lot of security cameras. The whole scene was recorded. They'll probably get expelled tomorrow."  
"B-but what about you?" Tsumiki asked, scared of the fate of her friend.  
"Don't worry about me. They attempted to throw the first punch and they knocked you out. What I did was in both self defense and to protect you. According to Mr. Kirigiri, I'll be fine."  
"Y-you talked to him?"  
"Yea. Besides the cameras, I told him what happened before bringing you here. He seemed to believe me" Hinata said, hiding the fact he was close to the headmaster.  
"G-good. I would be very sad if you left. Y-you've done so much for me."  
"Hey, I'm not going anywhere" Hinata said, giving her a reassuring smile.  
"Promise?"  
"I promise."

0000  
The next day, staying true to his word, Hinata was in his homeroom talking to Mitarai when someone slammed their hand on his desk. Looking up, he saw Owari giving him an excited grin.  
"I want to fight you" Owari said suddenly.  
"I'm sorry, what?" Hinata asked, surprised.  
"Yesterday, when I found ya next to those boys you knocked unconscious, I realized that I have to fight you. Those were three strong boys ya went up against yet you came out just fine."  
"Wait, Hinata did what?" Koizumi asked Owari. Glancing around, he noticed that his classmates were staring at him, managing to listen to Owari's explanation.  
"Yea, three boys challenged him to a fight and he whooped their asses." Nidi said with a grunt.  
"Geez, you boys and always starting fights" Koizumi said with a disappointed tone.  
"H-hey, they were going to kick the crap out of Tsumiki if I didn't step in" Hinata explained in an attempt to defend himself.  
"Tsumiki, is that true?" Koizumi asked the nurse, who was sitting right next to Hinata.  
"Y-yea" Tsumiki stuttered. "Hinata saved me."  
"Really? Well, then I guess it's fine that Hinata beat up three people…"  
"So what do ya say, will you fight me?" Owari asked him, her grin not faltering. "I'll let you use my boobs as pillows if you win!"  
"Uh…no thanks" Hinata awkwardly answered, somewhat freaked out by Owari's offer.  
"Please?" Owari asked him. After pestering Hinata for an entire ten minutes, he finally gave into her demands.  
"Fine, I'll fight you when it's lunch time."

0000  
When lunch time came, Hinata and his classmates quickly ate their lunches before heading out to a field. Taking their positions, Owari and Hinata assumed battle stances, Owari eying her opponent in excitement. In the background, all of Hinata's classmates were eagerly watching, seeing if Hinata would be able to beat the ultimate gymnast in a fight. Standing in the middle of the two fighters was Nidi, whose job was to begin the fight.  
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Hinata asked, feeling strange about the fact he was about to fight against someone who he considered a friend.  
"Hell yea!" Owari eagerly shouted. "I wanna see how tough you are!"  
"FIGHTERS!" Nidi shouted, raising his hand. "Are you ready?!"  
"Just start the fight already" Owari said impatiently.  
"Very well then, you may BEGIN!" Nidi shouted, lowering his arm. Wasting no time, Owari ran towards Hinata with a surprising amount of speed before unleashing a flurry of punches and kicks. However, much to her surprise, Hinata was able to dodge, block, and parry every single one of her attacks. Deciding he needed some space, Hinata threw a punch of his own. The punch was too fast for the ultimate gymnast to react against, which allowed it to nail Owari in the stomach, sending her flying through the field. Despite suffering from the heavy blow, Owari immediately got back up and proceeded to throw another batch of attacks, all of which Hinata was able to block.  
"Damn, you're pretty good" Owari said as she attempted to kick him, only for Hinata to dodge out of the way.  
"Thanks" Hinata said. "You are as well, but you rely on your strength too much. Use your speed to your advantage so that stuff like this doesn't happen." After saying that, Hinata swung a devastating right hook, striking Owari's face, knocking her out. A few seconds later, Owari woke up, having recovered from her hit.  
"Damn. I wasn't able to hit you" Owari said before giving Hinata a determined smile. "However next time, I'll win for sure!"  
"Wait, next time?"  
"Hell yea! When I see someone strong, I just have to fight them ya know? I continue challenging them until I beat them."  
"You did good Hinata" Nidi said, walking towards the pair. After helping Owari up from the ground, he turned his attention towards Hinata. "LETS SEE HOW WELL YOU DO AGAINST ME!"  
"Huh?"  
"I challenge you to a fight! You are a remarkable athlete, as such, I must test your skill for myself!"  
"You're not going to accept no for an answer are you?" Hinata asked with a sign.  
"NOPE!" Nidi said before throwing a punch at Hinata, surprising the ultimate hope for a split second. Thankfully for Nidi, this was enough time for him to land a nasty punch on Hinata's stomach, sending the poor boy flying all the way to the other side of the field. However, Hinata immediately got right back up, and went into a battle stance, waiting for Nidi's next move.  
"Impressive! You're able to take a hit!" Nidi said before running towards Hinata. "Let's see how long you could last against ME!" Nidi attempted to hit the boy with another attack, but Hinata was easily able to dodge his attacks. From observing both Nidi's and Owari's battle styles, he noticed that while Owari was faster, Nidi was stronger and more experienced. However, due to his lack of speed, he was unable to block the ouch Hinata threw at his stomach. Collapsing on his knees, Nidi gave him an impressed look.  
"ALRIGHT, that's enough for now" Nidi said as he staggered upwards. "You clearly process a vast knowledge of fighting. I can't wait to fight you again!"  
"Again?" Hinata asked.  
"Yea, again! I will keep fighting you so you never lose your physique!"  
"Seems like I'm going to be doing a lot of fighting from now on" Hinata muttered to himself. A few seconds later, the bell rang, signaling the start of class. Staying next to Tsumiki, Hinata made his way into the school, ready for his next class.


	9. Interacting

It was currently the weekend and Hinata was presented with two problems. First off, he was bored. However, it was not just regular boredom, but extreme boredom. Due to his heightened analytical abilities, several of the hobbies he once did before the operation did not produce the same level of excitement it once did. Every episode of his favorite TV show he was able to predict the ending in a matter of seconds, the same going for new installments of his favorite book series. Due to this, the excitement factor of those two hobbies went down sharply. Now that Hinata thought about it, the only time he was not bored was when he was hanging out with his classmates. Despite having the talent of ultimate analyst in his arsenal of talents, they were very unpredictable. Most of his classmates would do things which would bring him great joy. Heck, even playing video games with Nanami that he already knew the plot to was fun to him. Knowing that most of his friends lived on campus, he decided to go visit them. However, he still had to solve his second problem…  
His hair.  
Ever since the operation, his hair has been growing at an extraordinary rate, causing him to have to cut it everyday so he could maintain his normal hairstyle, one he was very fond of. After cutting his hair, Hinata notified his parents about going to Hopes Peak before making his way to the school.

0000  
"Do you know where the best place is to effectively torture someone?" Tsumiki asked Hinata.  
'Where did this come from?' Hinata asked himself. Upon entering the school, he immediately saw Tsumiki struggling to carry several objects. As such, Hinata immediately went to her aid, helping her carry the supplies to the infirmary. Afterwards, the two friends began chatting when she brought up the subject of torture.  
"I have…no idea" Hinata answered.  
"A-anywhere that isn't lethal, such as the stomach or the head."  
"Where is this coming from?"  
"W-well, besides everyone in our class, you're the only person who is not intending to hurt me. I-in fact, you're the first person to ever stand up for me. T-thank you."  
"Hey, it's no big deal" Hinata replied, attempting to downplay his good deed. "No one deserves to have to live with being abused, especially not someone as amazing as you."  
"You think I'm amazing?" Tsumiki asked him, her face becoming bright red. Once Hinata processed what he said, his face turned a bright shade of red out of embarrassment.  
"Well yea, not many people are willing to help out others like you are."  
"T-thank you."  
"No problem. Listen, if you ever need anything, just let me know. I'll always be willing to help you."  
"O-ok. I will."

0000  
After helping Tsumiki with several tasks, Hinata began to head towards the exit of the school. However, as he did so, a fat yellow hamster scurried over to him. Picking up the hamster with a confused look, he was surprised when the hamster ran onto his shoulder and snuggled into his shirt.  
"CHAM-P! Where has a demon of your status gone off too!?" Someone shouted. Hinata easily was able to identify the voice as fellow classmate Tanaka's. A second later, Hinata was proven correct when Tanaka began to walk down the same hallway as him, the two eventually intertwining. Upon seeing his hamster snuggled up into Hinata's shoulder, his eyes widened.  
"Impossible!" Tanaka shouted, causing Hinata to cringe. "A mortal such as yourself has been scouted by a demon as powerful as Cham-P? And you have not been burned by the poison which resides on his exterior? Fufufu, very interesting. Perhaps there is more to you then meets the eye. Tell me, who's master are you?"  
"Huh?" Hinata asked, confused. However, in a matter of seconds, Hinata was able to grasp what he was asking. "Well, if you're asking what kind of pet I own, I've only taken care of a hermit crab back in grade school..."  
"What?! Your power level is only a two? Trash! Yet…you have been able to tame one of the most dangerous creatures I have pledged allegiance to…very well then. I shall spent a portion of my time and accompany you. You have earned my respect."  
'You know if you really wanted to hang out, you could have just said something…' Hinata thought to himself. "Alright, want to get something to eat?"

0000  
After eating, and getting snuggled by the rest of Tanaka's hamsters, Hinata began to question Tanaka about several parts of his life, ones he hoped would not be too intrusive.  
"So, I once read you were able to save several species from extinction…is that true?"  
"Indeed. I have managed to save the beast which represents hope and despair on its fur. While the beast was powerful, I have naturally been able to tame it, seeing as I am Gundham Tanaka lord of ice!"  
"When you say 'hope and despair,' you mean the giant panda correct?" Hinata asked, basing his claim on the fact pandas had a yin-yang like pattern to them. Tanaka nodded in response.  
"It seems you have a decent amount of knowledge on the masters of this world. Very interesting... perhaps you can be of some use to me in the future."  
"Uh…thanks I guess."  
"I must be taking my leave" Tanaka bluntly said, standing up. "Farewell, for now."  
'What a blunt way of leaving' Hinata remarked to himself as he watched his classmate leave the cafeteria.

0000  
Eventually deciding to leave the cafeteria, Hinata began wandering around the school, attempting to look for someone else to hang out with. However, as luck would have it, he managed to bump into Komaeda, who was also wandering aimlessly around the school.  
"Oh Hinata!" Komaeda exclaimed in an excited voice, one which gave Hinata the creeps. Hinata knew that behind Komaeda's facade was something dangerous. It was quite obvious for one with the abilities of the ultimate analyst. However, he could not predict what Komaeda was really like. "I was looking for someone to hang out with, and as luck would have it, I find you, the one person who I desperately wanted to talk to the most. Mind if I hang out with you, though trash such as myself shouldn't be with someone as amazingly talented as you."  
"…Sure, I guess we could hang out" Hinata said, a bit cautiously. Despite being wary about the boy, he could not help but feel a bit sympathetic for the way he thought of himself. It is probably because he hangs out with Tsumiki so much that he has started to become a more sympathetic person.  
"Oh, that's great!" Komaeda excitedly explained. "Now I can learn more about you and the hope you carry."

0000  
"So Hinata, what is hope to you?" Komaeda asked him as the two walked around the school campus, curtesy of Komaeda.  
"Hope? Well, lets see…I see hope as a driving factor. The best things humanity has accomplished were built with hope to do good. Without hope, we probably would still be living in the seventeen hundreds."  
"I see…what an interesting answer. Now tell me, what is your talent? Clearly someone who could beat Nidi in a fight and detect poison in a matter of seconds must have some sort of grand title."  
"Sorry…but I am not allowed to tell you. It's something I've sworn to keep a secret" Hinata said, causing the white haired boy to frown.  
"Very well then, but know this, I will find out your talent. Have a good day" Komaeda said before leaving, causing Hinata to wonder if everyone in his class bluntly left conversations.

0000  
Swinging her sword at a dummy, Pekoyama smiled as it crumbled to the ground. So far, the swords-woman has managed to destroy about twenty dummies in less than a minute. Currently, the girl was practicing her swordsmanship in the school's dojo. The reason for this was to hone her skills in case she had to confront a certain someone, a person who has proven to be an opponent who should not be underestimated, Hinata. Pekoyama knew he was dangerous and as such, was preparing for just in case she had to fight him. Speaking of the devil, Hinata opened the dojo doors, having heard the clashing of her sword with the dummies.  
"Oh, Pekoyama" Hinata said, a bit surprised to see her in the dojo. "Hey there."  
"Hello" Pekoyama emotionlessly responded to his greeting.  
"What are you doing here?"  
"Training to fight you."  
"Huh?"  
"You have proven to be dangerous, seeing as you nearly knocked out Nidi with one hit. As such, I need to be prepared to take you out if needed. Watch your back, because if you harm my classmates in any way, I will not hesitate to use my sword on you" Pekoyama said before walking out of the gymnasium.  
"What the hell just happened?" Hinata asked himself.

0000  
"So Hinata, how was your day?" His father asked Hinata as he went straight for his room.  
"Exhausting" Hinata said before entering his room. So far, he translated the speech of a person who spoke gibberish, was threatened by possibly the most dangerous woman alive, and potentially gained a new stalker. Hinata only had one thought left before going to bed.  
"Is this how the rest of the year will go?"

0000  
"Hinata! There you are!" Souda shouted when he saw the ultimate hope. Like yesterday, Hinata decided to go to Hopes Peak, seeing as he was bored out of his mind back home. Despite it being the weekend, his mom and dad worked, leaving him by himself. "I've been looking for your dorm and I couldn't find it. Where is it?"  
"Well…I don't live in a dorm" Hinata answered.  
"Oh really. Well that's kinda embarrassing. But anyways, I need to ask you for a favor."  
"What is it?" Hinata asked curiously.  
"The girls in our class have arranged a day where they're all going to the pool. I want to crash that party!"  
"Let me guess, you want to stage a fake 'convenience' correct?"  
"Yep."  
"But why me?"  
"Well, Tanaka's Tanaka, Hanamura's the biggest pervert around, Komaeda gives me the creeps, Nidi cannot keep his mouth shut, Mitarai's too antisocial, and Kuzuryu is out of the question. You're the only one I can turn to" Souda said before getting on his knees. "So I'm begging you, please help me! I'll bother you until you die if you don't."  
"Fine…" Hinata said, not wanting an additional stalker.  
"Great. I've got your swimsuit ready, so just meet me at the pool in three hours." With that, Souda dashed away into the building, leaving behind a slightly amused but tired Hinata.

0000  
"How boring," a voice stated, causing Hinata to jolt up. After receiving the invitation from Souda, Hinata found a nearby tree and began to relax as an attempt to kill time. Unfortunately, he grew too comfortable in the spot he found, causing him to fall asleep.  
Glancing around, he noticed he was no longer in the school's garden, but was in some sort of void. In front of him, a person was glancing at him. Strangely, the person looked exactly like Hinata except for the fact his hair was long and grey as well as the fact his eyes were red.  
"This is just a dream," Hinata whispered to himself, knowing that whatever was happening did not exist. The person gave a small nod in response, somehow managing to hear the whisper.  
"It seems you are at least somewhat interesting," the person told him with a monotonous voice.  
"Who are you?" Hinata asked, curious about the person in front of him.  
"Isn't it obvious? I'm you," the boy stated. "Rather I'm you but with a different name. I am known as Izuru kamukura, a name which unlike yours is not boring."  
"Hey! Screw you!" Hinata growled.  
"Anyways, now's not the time for small talk. I'm here with a warning. Danger is coming and if you care about those people known as friends, I suggest you take my advice. Stay away from the despair disguised as beauty."  
"Despair disguised as beauty? What on Earth is that supposed to mean?" Hinata asked. However, as he did so, the void began to turn a shade of white as he began to wake up.

0000  
Waking up, Hinata let out a sigh of confusion.  
"Despair disguised as beauty…what could that mean?" Hinata asked. While he had the ability to solve most problems almost instantly, this was one he could not do. The entire phrase made no sense to him. Glancing around as he attempted to solve Izuru's riddle, he noticed one one of the clocks that he has been asleep for nearly three hours.  
"Crap! I'm going to be late for the pool party," Hinata said before dashing into the school building, eager to meet his friend.

0000  
"Hey, you actually made it!" Souda shouted in excitement when he saw Hinata.  
"I did say I would help you" Hinata said. "Though if the girls try to kill us, I'm not sure I'll be able to help you if you get caught by them."  
"Don't worry, they won't. After all, we're faking a coincidence. They won't figure out it's an act."  
"You better hope so" Hinata stated. "When should they be here by?"  
"About an hour" Souda casually said.  
"Then why are yo- never mind. I answered my own question" Hinata said. "Where's my bathing suit?"  
"Oh, right here" Souda said before tossing him a speedo. Hinata cringed upon looking at the object.  
"I am not wearing this."  
"What, why not? I even took the time to make sure we match!"  
"If that's the case, I'm definitely not wearing it..."  
"Wearing what?" Mioda asked, her sudden appearance causing Souda to shriek in terror. Glancing at the speedo in Hinata's hand, Mioda's eyes widened.  
"That's one daring swimsuit. Ibuki would've ran in terror if she saw Hinata wearing that."  
"Which is exactly why I'm not wearing it," Hinata said.  
"Oh come on!"  
"What are you two doing here anyways?" Mioda asked. "Ibuki thinks you're trying to crash the girls only party."  
"Nope" Hinata lied before Sousa was able to speak. "We're just here to enjoy some swimming of our own."  
"Yep. It's just a coincidence that the girls party and us wanting to swim are both exactly around the same time. So let's enjoy this coincidence while we can."  
"Meh…Ibuki's on to you" Mioda said before making an 'I'm watching you' sign with her hands.  
"Really, it's just a coincidence" Hinata calmly said, trying to make up for Souda's cringe worthy performance. "Anyways, where's the rest of the girls? If there's supposed to be a party, then why are you only here?"  
"Oh, Ibuki wanted to get some early stretching and swimming done before swimming, so she came an hour early. I couldn't wait for the party. It's going to be hella fun!"  
"Mind if we join?" Hinata asked.  
"You'll have to ask Sonia about that seeing as she set the whole thing up, but Ibuki has no problem with you two hanging out with us, especially since I trust Hinata enough to keep Souda from doing anything dirty."  
"Hey! I would never do such a thing!"  
"Alright. Once Sonia comes, I'll ask her" Hinata said, ignoring Souda.

0000  
Grabbing a school swimsuit, Hinata swam around with Mioda for a while before the rest of the girls began to flood in. Souda attempted to join them, but him in a speedo was enough to make both Hinata and Mioda refuse to get anywhere near him.  
"What the hell are you wearing?" Koizumi asked Souda upon seeing him, Saionji right behind her. Like Mioda and Hinata, the two girls opted to wear the school's swimsuit.  
"If you guys keep complaining I might as well change!" Souda shouted.  
"Please do" Owari said, entering the pool. Unlike the other girls, she wore a blue and white striped bikini. "You're kinda creepin' me out."  
"Enough of Souda's ridicules choice of a swimsuit, what the heck are you two doing here? This is a girls only party" Koizumi angrily stated. "You better not have come to peep on us!"  
"We-"  
"Sorry, we didn't know you girls had something planned" Hinata stated, both faking innocence and cutting off Souda. "Souda and I made plans to come here earlier this week so we can bond some more."  
"Y-yea. What he said."  
"After all, I'm kind of new here and I'd really like to know you guys better."  
"If that's the case, then you two can stay" Sonia said upon entering. Much to Souda's disappointment, the princess opted to wear a wetsuit. "Though I please ask that Souda changes his attire."  
"Anything for you Miss Sonia" Souda said before dashing out of the room, grabbing a school swimsuit on the way out. Exactly a second after he left, both Tsumiki and Nanami arrived causing Hinata to shield his eyes. While both girls had the school swimsuit on, they had picked one a size smaller than their normal size, showing off their assets.  
"H-Hinata? What are y-you doing here?" Tsumiki asked.  
"I'll tell you in a second, but can you two please change? You're swimsuits are a bit small."  
"What a gentleman!" Sonia explained, her eyes gleaming. "Normally a boy would 'enjoy the show' as its called."  
"Oh, thank you for the warning" Nanami said before dragging Tsumiki to the changing rooms. Once they and Souda came back, Mioda let out a loud shout.  
"LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED!"


	10. Izuru's Curiousity

"Shit! This wasn't supposed to happen" Hinata stated as Tsumiki, Sonia, and he dragged an injured Souda to the school's infirmary. "We were supposed to have fun. It was supposed to be a regular day. Then, this happened…"  
"Indeed. It is sad to see one of our friends injured" Sonia responded as Hinata put Souda on one of the few beds in the infirmary, making sure not to hurt him. "Even if said friend has a few screws loose."  
"Hey! It seemed like the perfect idea at the time" Souda complained before groaning as he held his leg.  
"Yes it did. But then I realized how easily you can screw things up" Hinata responded, causing the mechanic to let loose a loud sigh.  
"N-not to interrupt, but I think you two are over exaggerating the s-severity of Souda's state" Tsumiki stated to Hinata and Sonia. "A-all he has i-is a broken leg. He'll live."  
"How long will I be unable to use my right leg?" Souda asked as he whimpered in pain.  
"S-six to eight weeks depending on the severity" Tsumiki said. "T-though it could take longer depending on how badly you broke it. I-I need to examine your leg before I can officially tell you. Um, could you two please leave? I w-work better when no ones watching."  
"We'll give you some space to do your thing" Hinata said before leaving the room with Sonia. Turning her attention to Souda, she gave him a sympathetic smile.  
"I'm s-sorry, but this might hurt a bit" Tsumiki said before examining her patent.  
0000  
"Hinata, I must ask you, how did Souda wind up injuring himself?" Sonia asked once the two were outside the infirmary. The two were casually standing outside the room, attempting to ignore Souda's loud screaming. It seemed like whatever Tsumiki was doing in there was torturing the young boy.  
"Well" Hinata began. "It all started when…"

0000  
Flashback  
"Damnit! Why won't Sonia notice me?" Souda asked Hinata as he took a seat next to him. Two hours had passed since Mioda had officially started the party by yelling. For the majority of the party, Hinata hung out with both Tsumiki and Nanami, swimming with the former and playing video games with the latter after swimming. Meanwhile, Mioda, Koizumi, and Saionji were swimming as well. Well, Koizumi was attempting to teach Saionji how to swim while the musician tagged along, attempting to get the two to play some ridiculous game. While they did this, Sonia and Owari were having a small swimming competition. As expected, the ultimate gymnast ahead by several laps. Lastly, Pekoyama was intently watching everyone, making sure everything went smoothly. However, Hinata swore he saw her watching him, as if he was some type of criminal or pervert.  
"I have no idea" Hinata told him. Well, he knew exactly why Sonia was ignoring Souda, but he didn't want to hurt his feelings.  
"Maybe I do something cool she'll notice me…" Souda thought to himself, his eyes widening a few seconds later. "I've got it! If I do the most amazing cannonball ever, she'll notice me! She's gotta."  
"I don't think that's a good idea" Hinata stated. "You might get hurt."  
"Psh, yea right" Souda retorted. "I'll be fine." With that, Souda made his way to the diving board, eager to make the biggest slash ever. Upon reaching the top of the diving board, which was several meters off the ground, Souda began to plan out how exactly he wanted to jump off the diving board. He wanted to do some sort of fancy trick, something like a summersault or a front flip. Eventually deciding on doing a backflip, he shouted at everyone to get their attention.  
"HEY EVERYONE! CHECK THIS OUT!" He shouted, jumping as everyone began looking at him. Unfortunately, as he attempted the backflip, a loud cracking noise echoed the room. What followed next was Souda letting out a high pitched scream of pain as he fell into the water. Sensing his friend in trouble, Hinata dove into the water, pulling a very injured Souda out of the water. Turning to the closest person to him, which happened to Sonia, he began to ask for her assistance.  
"Sonia. Get Tsumiki and help me bring him to the infirmary" Hinata told her in a panicked voice. The princess was about to question the situation, but seeing Hinata's panicked expression, she immediately did what she was told.  
End flashback

0000  
"Oh…I see" Sonia stated after Hinata finished his story, soaking up all the information given to her. "I always knew Souda had some…unhealthy feelings for me, but to do something as risky as that was illogical on his part."  
"To be honest, I do t think the stunt was that risky" Hinata told her. "A lot of people do similar stunts like that and are fine afterwards. I think Souda just rushed the entire stunt. After all, he immediately jumped off after snagging our attention, not planning exactly how he was going to jump off and what time he was going to flip. When it comes to doing something new, you should always take time to decide when each step should be completed."  
"Wow! Such words of wisdom" Sonia said as her eyes began gleaming. "Where did you learn such a thing?"  
"I think you're overreacting" Hinata said, startled by the girl's excitement. From what Hinata currently knew about the princess, he could tell she was one of the smartest individuals in the class, but always got excited from the smallest of things despite the amount of knowledge she had. "It wasn't anything special. I read it from a textbook. A math one in fact."  
"U-um, not to interrupt" Tsumiki timidly said, causing the two students to turn to her. "But you can come in now."  
"Oh. Thanks Tsumiki" Hinata said as he and Sonia entered the infirmary. Upon entering, the two teens ran towards Souda, who seemed to have calmed down.  
"Hey Souda, how are you feeling?" Hinata asked.  
"Oh, I'm fine" Souda replied. "It's not like my leg is broken or anything."  
"How long will his leg stay broken?" Sonia asked the nurse. Letting out a surprised yelp, Tsumiki answered the princess.  
"H-his leg will heal in about a-six weeks" Tsumiki told her. "T-thankfully he didn't break his bone too badly. H-however, he'll have to wear a cast during this time. I'll begin making it right now."  
"Hey, take it easy" Hinata said, sensing that the girl was getting anxious. "You don't have to rush."  
"O-okay" the girl said before leaving the room. Hinata let out a loud sigh seeing as the nurse will most likely ignore his advice before turning his attention back to Souda.  
"I'll be leaving as well" Sonia said before exiting. "Someone needs to tell the other girls about Souda's current state."  
After Sonia left the room, Souda let out a loud groan.  
"I must've looked like a big idiot to Sonia" Souda told Hinata. "Now I'll never be able to show my face to her again."  
"It wasn't that bad" Hinata said. "If anything, she did look concerned, though what you did was a bit stupid."  
"Shut up, I thought I would have been able to do that stunt. But Hinata, I've got to ask you something important."  
"Sure, what is it?"  
"Do you think I have a chance with Sonia?" Souda asked. Upon hearing his question, Hinata's mind went into panic mode. He knew that Souda had absolutely no chance with the princess, but at the same time, he didn't want to hurt Souda's feelings. As such, he began to lie.  
"Well, its still early" Hinata told him. "As such, you do have a chance to win her over. However, I suggest you tone down the stalking a bit."  
"I do not stalk her!" Souda shouted.  
"Really? May I remind you why we even went to the pool party?"  
"…" Souda opened his mouth to protest, but he immediately shut it, seeing as he couldn't refute Hinata's claim.  
"Fine, maybe I do. I'll stop doing so, but just know that I'm never going to give her up."  
"But you might let her down~" Hinata said in a sing song voice, causing Souda to give him an emotionless look.  
"…Please tell me you didn't just do that."  
"Sorry. I couldn't help myself."

0000  
After keeping Souda company for a while, Hinata left the room. However, as he did so, he felt something bump into him. Looking behind him, he saw Tsumiki on the floor with a caste next to her.  
"We've got to stop meeting like this" Hinata told her as he helped her up. After doing so, Tsumiki began to unleash another series of apologies.  
"I'm sorry for bumping into you. I was in such a hurry to give Souda his cast and I've should of looked where I was going, please don't hate me."  
"How many times do I have to tell you, I could never hate you" Hinata told her gently. "You're a wonderful human being. I could never get mad at you."  
"W-wonderful?" Tsumiki asked, a blush appearing on her face. "I'm not that special."  
"Listen, I'll say this as many times as I need to, you're a great person who will change the world for the better. I've seen it before. I mean, the reason you're helping Souda now is because you care about his well being. That makes you a good person."  
"…" All Tsumiki could do was stare at the boy, an enormous blush forming on her face. It was right then she realized that she could truly trust him, that he truly cared for her. While he has proven time and time again that he really does care for her, she always remained skeptical. With a past like hers, it was understandable.  
"Hey, once you finish with Souda, want to walk home together?" Hinata asked her, snapping the girl back to reality. "The walk home gets lonely."  
"S-sure" Tsumiki responded. After Tsumiki attached the cast onto Souda's leg, the two friends walked home together, the girl standing a bit closer to Hinata than usual.

0000  
"How boring" Izuru stated as he watched Hinata walk with Tsumiki. Unknown to the boy, when he was given his ultimate talents, he was also given Izuru Kamukura, a cold hearted being with only one desire, to find something which could keep the boy's attention. Ever since he was created by Hinata's self consciousness during the operation, the long haired individual had always felt bored. His boredom was so powerful in fact, it was able to transcend to Hinata's thoughts as well, causing him to get bored easily. As an attempt to gain some enjoyment, he decided to watch Hinata develop all his abilities and his relationships with his friends. Izuru already knew nearly everything there was to know in the world and if he wanted to, he could've started a harem with all of Hinata's friends. But to him, why bother? All it would do is prove to the world why he's the ultimate human being. So instead, he left Hinata live out his life without him interfering. The only time he did was when he warned Hinata about the 'despair disguised as beauty.' And even then, the only reason he did so was to see if it would spice up Hinata's life. While it was still too early to gain any results, Izuru still warned the boy, curious to see how he'll deal with the situation when the time comes.  
"This is absolutely boring" Izuru muttered to himself. "Hinata is taking far too long to develop the abilities I already have, his classmates are all extremely predictable, and everything he does is far too simplistic. Yet…I won't interfere. After all, there is one thing that intrigues me."  
Taking a glance at Tsumiki, his mind began analyzing every detail about her. Her appearance, her current mood, what she was wearing, and anything else about her was noted by the ultimate. Yet, there was one thing that was bothering him about her, the way she behaved around Hinata. The way she behaved around him was a bit…odd. Based on what he saw, the girl often secluded herself from others in fear that they will do something to her. Yet when it came to Hinata, the girl seemed to adore having him around. Granted, she was still a bumbling mess, but there was certainly an aura of happiness when she spoke to him. For whatever reason, Izuru could not figure out the relationship between the two.  
"Maybe it has something to do with those things known as 'feelings'" Izuru stated to himself. When it came to emotions, Izuru was absolutely clueless about the subject. After all, the only emotion he's ever felt was boredom. In addition, he was created with the ability to suppress his emotions so they wouldn't become a hinderance to him. Unfortunately, boredom was an emotion so powerful not even he could hold back.  
"For now, I'll stay back. But if things do not progress between the two of them, I'm taking over."


	11. Elementry Ultimates

'So…bored' Hinata thought to himself as his new math teacher began to ramble on about finding the arc length of a circle. It's been a week since Souda broke his leg and thanks to Tsumiki, he'll be able to walk in five weeks, sooner than the nurse had predicted when she first saw the leg.  
Since then, the week has been uneventful to Hinata. His classmates have been surprisingly quite and inactive throughout the week. Hell, Owari only challenged him to two fights this week, which was only a fifth of the amount she challenged him to before Souda broke his leg. Saionji was also awfully quiet, not having played a prank on anyone, and so was Mioda, the one who caused a good chunk of the antics developed by the class.  
Though a bit boring, the week wasn't awful. It certainly still beat attending classes at the reserve course. In the main course, all his classes, the lessons taught, and the activities done were enough to keep him mildly entertained. For example, during biology class he was able to dissect a frog, and in literature the class was assigned to write short stories, material which managed to grasp the boy's attention. Sadly, math class didn't do the same. Most of math was utilizing various patterns and rules to solve for a value. While some individuals would get pleasure out of doing so, Hinata's ability to predict, memorize, and solve problems just by looking at them took all the joy and challenge out of it. Then again, he hated math even before the operation...  
Thankfully, after what felt like an eternity, the bell rang, signifying the end of math class and the beginning of home room. Once everyone took their seats, Yukizome began to give a speech about how glad she was that everyone chose to attend classes today. This was something she did everyday and despite being a creative person, she often used the same lines over and over again. As such, Hinata often drifted off to space. However, today would be different, seeing as Yukizome said something completely out of the ordinary, causing the boy to snap back to reality.  
"Also, if any of you can spare some time to help out at Hopes Peak Elementary tomorrow during your free time, that would be greatly appreciated," Yukizome said with a strong smile.  
"There's a Hopes Peak Elementary?" Hinata asked. This came as a surprise to Hinata, seeing as the boy has researched the school multiple times, not finding any trace of the school's existence during each search. It wasn't like he casually searched the school either. The boy could easily tell the entire known history of Hopes Peak without missing a fact. After all, how else would he had found out about the reserve course, something relatively hidden to the public?  
"Oh, you didn't know? While not officially part of the Hopes Peak program, the school helps those in elementary school discover any talent they may have," Yukizome responded. "In fact, a good chunk of graduates end up attending Hopes Peak in the future. Sadly, the only way to attend the school is if your parents have a lot of money or connections. It actually costs more than the reserve course."  
"Reserve course?" Nanami questioned. Judging by the vast amount of confused faces in the class, it was easy for tell no one but Hinata knew of the other program.  
"The reserve course was established for two reasons, to offer ordinary students a chance of achieving a great education and to help pay for the main course's facilities," Yukizome informed the class, only to cause several more hands to go up. Unfortunately, the bell rang, signifying the end of the school day.  
"Remember to tell me by tomorrow if any of you would be interested in helping out in Hopes Peak Elementary," Yukizome reminded the class before everyone began flooding out of the room.

0000  
"They have no right to be here. None of them have any talents. They're existence is even more unimportant than trash such as myself" Komaeda told himself as he bounced a ball off a wall in his room. Catching it, he gave it a little squeeze of frustration before tossing it at the wall. Upon finding out about the existence of the reserve course, the normally calm boy began to anger. To him, individuals didn't deserve to attend a school for the talented, no matter their wealth or background. They needed to earn it.  
"Granted, I shouldn't be here anyways" the boy said, continuing to bounce the ball at a simple pace. "After all, my talent is only luck, one which shouldn't even deserve to be recognized."  
Eventually getting bored of the ball, Komaeda attempted to catch the ball and put it away, only for it to bounce off his hand due to his delayed reaction. The deflected ball went towards one of the lamps in the room, knocking it down. However, when Komaeda went to pick up both the ball and the lamp, he noticed there was a lottery ticket which displayed the winning numbers of this week's lottery. How did he know they were the winning numbers? The boy often watched game shows and the displacement of lottery numbers to see how vastly his luck was from others. It was a nice form of entertainment for him. Stuffing the ticket in his pocket, a sinister smile formed on the luckster's face.  
"But it's more than they can claim."

0000  
"U-um Hinata? Are you okay?" Tsumiki asked Hinata as the two began to walk home together. The walk home was something Tsumiki enjoyed dearly, seeing as she had her best friend all to herself. Normally the girl was willing to share her possessions, but Hinata was something she didn't like to share. Ever since he came into her life, she was always thinking about him. After all, how could she not? This was the boy who defended her from several of her tormentors, the one who had befriended her without hesitation, the one who made her feel like she was someone special. However, today Hinata was awfully quiet, his face unreadable. He was clearly in thought, but that's all she could get from his face.  
"Hm? Oh, I'm okay," Hinata stated. "I'm just thinking."  
"A-about what?"  
"About Hopes Peak," Hinata answered, surprised that she didn't begin to apologize for no reason like she normally did after asking a question. "I'm just wondering what caused the government to reduce their funding for the school."  
"The government r-reduced their fundings?"  
"Yea. They actually did three years ago, causing the creation of the reserve course. However, it seems they may have done so again. After all, the establishment of Hopes Peak Elementary seems relatively new, seeing as it's nearly completely unknown to the public. This was the case with the reserve course when it was first established, gaining attention only after a few years went by. Part of me wants to check it out solely for the reason to see what the school is about."  
"Really? I-I was actually going to volunteer. A-as nurse, it's my job to help out those in need and small children tend to get themselves injured a lot. I would l-love it if you could join me."  
"Well, I did say I want to check out the school and I do enjoy spending time with you," Hinata said, not noticing the small blush forming on his friend's face. "Meh. I'll volunteer. I've got nothing better to do."  
The rest of the walk was spent discussing the possible activities they would be required to do at Hopes Peak Elementary.

0000  
"Huh. Seems like this school takes decorating seriously," Hinata noted as he and Tsumiki entered Hopes Peak Elementary the next day. Having informed Yukizome before the start of homeroom about their interest in volunteering at the elementary school, the teacher gave them a bright smile before listing a range of times they could pick to go to the school. Each slot required them to stay at the school for forty minutes, the equivalent of an entire class period, and depending on the time they picked, they would either be helping the teacher with grading or they would keep the students of their designated class entertained. Seeing as the only time the two would be able to volunteer without missing a class was during their lunch period (which started at 11:30 am), Hinata and Tsumiki decided to visit the school then, seeing as the nurse didn't want to skip any classes.  
"It's nice isn't it?" Tsumiki said, glancing around at the various decorations. The decorations consisted of several trophy cases, awards, and the displacement of several student projects. Despite being an elementary school, all the projects shown off were outstandingly beautiful. Just based on some of the drawings, test scores, and books, Hinata had a feeling some of these kids would eventually find their way into the actual Hopes Peak Academy.  
"Excuse me, can I help you?" A tall, black haired woman asked, causing Hinata and Tsumiki to look at her. Remembering what they were at the school for, Hinata spoke up.  
"Uh, I'm Hajime Hinata and this is Mikan Tsumiki. We're, um, here to volunteer. We're from Hopes Peak."  
"Oh. I do remember being told that there will be two kids coming to our school. Come, I'll lead you to the classroom you've been assigned to," the woman said before making her way down the hall, the two teens following behind her. Eventually, they reached a classroom decorated with several drawings of simple items children tend to use, such as sporting equipment and books.  
"All you have to do is keep them entertained for forty minutes. However, I must warn you, the kids in this class are quite mischievous. There's only five of them, but this class is already known as the 'troubled' class. Well, if you need anything, just come and get me." With that, the woman began to walk away, leaving behind two confused teenagers. What on earth did they sign up for?

0000  
Hinata thought he would see chaos once he opened the door. After all, their guide did mention that this was the 'troubled' class. However, when he opened the door, he saw the opposite. All five children were sitting at their desks, talking to one another. Granted, they were being loud, but they immediately stopped speaking upon seeing the two teenagers walk into the room. Quickly glancing around the room, Hinata began analyzing each student one by one. The first kid that caught his attention was a boy with a strange mask. Judging by the way it was made, it was supposed to completely cover his face while intending to scare people away. However, it only made him look strange. The boy was also dressed in all brown, a tool belt strapped around his waist. Thankfully, the tools were rather blunt, making them only useful for small crafts. The next boy which caught his attention had red, spiky hair, as well as a large set of headphones. However, what caught Hinata's attention was the fact the boy was covered in dirt, bruises, and band-aids. The third student Hinata glanced at was on a wheelchair and had a face which screamed 'pity me.' The girl had short, green hair and was wearing all navy blue clothing. Next to her was a girl who's attire consisted of all pink, including her long pink hair. Unlike her friend, her attire screamed 'adorable.' In addition, she had a pink headband which looked like demon horns. The last kid he glanced at was all the way in the back, engrossed in the book he was reading. He had blue hair which spiked up on two sides, a hairstyle Hinata thought as strange. In addition, he had a white blazer with gold strips and a pair of dress shorts with the exact same color scheme. Based on his posture, Hinata could easily tell he was the most mature of the group.  
"Huh? Who are you? Monaca doesn't remember seeing you around…" the girl in the wheelchair asked after Hinata and Tsumiki entered the room.  
"I'm Hinata and the girl next to me is Tsumiki," Hinata stated. "We've volunteered to watch over you for a period."  
"Is she your girlfriend?" The pink haired girl asked, a mischievous smile forming on her face. "If so, you've easily snagged one of the most adorbs girl I've ever seen."  
"What?! No! We're just friends" Hinata said, getting flustered from such a question. "Right Tsumiki?"  
"A-adorable?!" Tsumiki shouted in surprise at the comment. It seemed like she only focused on the compliment, not that Hinata could blame her. "Y-you think I-I'm cute?"  
"Of course!" The girl gushed. "I've seen many people I consider adorbs, and you easily beat most of them."  
"T-thank you," Tsumiki flushed. It was easy to tell she was enjoying the attention.  
"Kotoko. Leave the poor girl alone" the boy in the back told his classmate. "At this rate, you'll give her a heart attack."  
"Why do you always ruin my fun Nagisa?" Kotoko pouted. "Are you jealous that you're not as adorbs as her?"  
"I wish I was adorable" the boy with the mask sighed. "But instead I'm cursed with being hideous."  
"Maybe if you take off your creepy mask, people won't think you're ugly," Kotoko said. Next to her, Monaca nodded in agreement.  
"The mask honestly creeps Monaca out Jataro."  
"N-no! I can't take off this mask" the boy, Jataro whimpered. "My face is so ugly, you'll die from the ugliness."  
"Take the mask off. That's an order from your leader," the boy with red hair said while giving a sly smile.  
"N-no!"  
"Hey, can you five introduce yourselves?" Hinata asked, trying to prevent the situation from growing.  
"As leader, I'll go first," the boy with red hair stated. "I'm Masaru Daimon, the Li'l ultimate P.E. I can easily complete an entire year long race in only a day."  
"I've told you multiple times that it's impossible for you to do" Nagisa told him, causing the 'leader' to pout. "Anyways, I'm Nagisa Shingetsu, Li'l ultimate social studies. Nice to make your acquaintance."  
"Ooh! Ooh! Me next" Kotoko shouted in excitement. "I'm Kotoko Utsugi, li'l ultimate drama, but that's in the past. I love all things that are adorbs." At this point, both Hinata and Tsumiki noticed how each of the students who introduced themselves had a title similar to those who attended Hopes Peak. Seemed like the two schools were truly related.  
"I'm Monaca Towa" Monaca said, introducing herself in a cutesy voice. "I'm the li'l ultimate home room. I enjoy telling stories."  
"I guess I'm last…fitting for someone as u-ugly as me," Jataro stated. "I'm Jataro Kemuri, the li'l ultimate art. I like arts and crafts, since I'm able to make pretty things to compensate for my hideousness."  
"U-um. It's nice to meet you," Tsumiki stated. "I'm T-Tsumiki, the ultimate nurse," Tsumiki informed the class of her title. "A-and this is Hinata."  
"Yea, as for my title, well that's something I wish not to share. So, is there anything you five want to do?"  
"Wait?! You two actually want to do something with us?" Kotoko asked, surprised.  
"Yea. I don't see why I won't. After all, we have forty minutes to kill and I understand the pain of spending so much time doing nothing," Hinata answered. "So I thought we might have some fun."  
"Our last supervisor didn't even bother to interact with us," Kotoko informed him. "He just sat in the corner like a total creep."  
"Ooh! Monaca has an idea. How about we play Monopoly" Monaca suggested.  
"Aw, but I never win in that game," Masaru pouted. In response, Monaca gave him a depressed look, causing the boy to become uncomfortable.  
"Fine, I'll play," he said as Nagisa grabbed the board game from one of the room's closets and began to set up the pieces.  
"I must warn you though, Nagisa is really good at Monopoly," Monaca informed the two teens, causing Nagisa to turn a bright red.  
"U-uh, I'm not that good," Nagisa stated as the seven of them began to play. As they did so, Hinata found that what was said about Masaru and Nagisa was correct. Masaru was the first to go bankrupt, followed by Kotoko. Tsumiki was next, seeing as even though she was extremely intelligent, this was her first time playing the game. Jataro followed shortly after Tsumiki, causing an impressive showdown between Nagisa, Monaca, and Hinata. While the two children were masters of Monopoly, Hinata's ability to analyze their playing styles allowed him to be the sole victor in the end, knocking out Monaca, followed by Nagisa a few minutes later. However, their playing styles weren't the only thing he analyzed. As he watched the children interact with one another, he noticed a familiar look in their eyes. He's seen this look countless times from both Tsumiki and Komaeda, it was the look of someone who's been pushed down more than they could get up, someone who has been broken for a long time. Someone who needed to be saved. And apparently, he wasn't the only one to notice this.  
"Y-you noticed it as well?" Tsumiki whispered to him as the seven continued to play.  
"Yea. They're not troubling kids at all. But they are troubled."


	12. Idle Hangout Session

It's been two weeks since Hinata and Tsumiki first interacted with those in Hopes Peak Elementary. After the first visit, the two teens decided to keep doing so, seeing as the five young children probably did not receive any attention from those involved with their lives. As such, Hinata decided to keep them company, hoping to substitute for those who refused to give them the affection they needed. 

During the two weeks, Hinata had realized that the amount of pain they were in was much more than he initially thought. For example, it was clear to him that Masaru was physically abused, seeing as the boy came in with a new set of bruises each day. It was also noticeable that Monaca and Jataro were both mentally destroyed by their families. However, both their situations varied differently. Jataro's problem involved mostly verbal abuse while Monaca's problems came from neglect. Sadly, both Kotoko's and Nagisa's issues were still a mystery to him. Sure he was able to analyze a situation with ease, but he was still learning how to effectively use his abilities. Neither child gave any additional insight into their lives, though Nagisa was always studying whenever he entered the room. Perhaps he suffers from an inferiority complex?

Thankfully, he seemed like his efforts were producing some kind of positive effect on the children. Whenever he entered the room, he was always greeted with cheers and smiles. Whenever he hung out with them, they were never afraid to be themselves and whenever he left, their moods seemed to dampen. Even stoic Nagisa seemed to have a good time. Heck, Monaca even started calling him 'big bro Hinata.' One may think that they were faking, not wanting to hurt their feelings, but to one as analytical as Hinata, he knew that they were not. What they expressed was true emotion, coming straight from the heart. Them doing this made Hinata feel good himself, seeing as he was accomplishing his goal. 

However, Hinata made sure to keep an eye out for Monaca at all times. Something seemed off about her…as if she was hiding an entirely different side of her from him. Granted, she was just a kid, but underestimating anyone no matter their age is a bad idea. After all, upon meeting Owari, Hinata didn't expect her to leap from building to building, causing him to be taken by surprise during the chase scene that took place between the two students. 

0000

"Hey dude. I heard you were helping out at the elementary school down the block," Souda said as he approached Hinata after school. Normally he would walk with Tsumiki home, but the nurse had some important business she needed to take care of in the clinic. He offered to help her out, but she refused, saying that she would feel bad 'wasting any of his time with her problems.' If this occurred a few weeks ago, Hinayana would have been worried for her safety. However, stories about his fight against the group who attempted to rob her on school grounds began to spread throughout the school. To Hinata, some of them were clearly exaggerated, such as how he supposedly broke the nose of one of them members with his pinky when Hinata clearly broke it with a simple punch, but he didn't mind. After all, they spread the same message around the school; anyone who picks on Mikan Tsumiki will have to deal with him. Knowing this, no one has picked on Tsumiki since, though he has heard from Souda and Kuzuryuu that Saionji has still been bothering his best friend. He'll have to deal with her later. 

"Dude, where have you been for the past two weeks?" Hinata asked his friend, amazed at how little he payed attention to what was going on around him. "That's old news."

"Hey! I was busy…I think…" Souda shouted, only to prove Hinata's point. "But anyways, how is that place? I don't remember ever hearing about an elementary school owned by Hopes Peak before."

"It's okay I guess," Hinata responded with a shrug. "Nothing special really happens there, the kids are nice though."

"Cool. Oh, that's right! Nanami wanted me to ask you if you wanted to go to the arcade with us."

"Uh, I have nothing better to do, so why not," Hinata answered. "Is anyone else coming along?"

"Let's see…Sonia, Hanamura, Koizumi, and Komaeda are also coming," Souda stated. "A pretty strange combination to me seeing as Sonia and Koizumi don't seem like the type to play video games on their own."

"Well, I can see why he's going," Hinata thought to himself. After all, Souda was his second closest friend along with Nanami, so it made sense that Hinata would know the guy well enough to tell what's going on in his head. "I actually have to agree with you. Now that I think about it, Hanamura's probably only going because he'll be hanging around with a group of girls if he does go to the arcade."

"So, are you still interested?"

"Yeah. After all, someone's got to make sure you and Hanamura don't go off scaring every girl you see."

"Sweet!" Souda said before doing a fist pump, glad to have his friend on board. However, his facial expression shifted from happy to surprised when he realized what else Hinata had said. "What!? Hey man, that's just cruel…"

"But it's true. Come on, let's meet up with the others."

0000

"Is it too early to say I told you so?" Hinata asked Souda as they watched two security guards drag Hanamura out of the arcade. Upon entering the arcade, Hanamura wasted no time, beginning his search for a partner. Though Nanami wished to find him, Koizumi convinced the group to leave him, saying that now they could have fun without worrying about any 'wardrobe malfunctions.' Unfortunately, by doing so, the group practically gave the chef the ability to do whatever he wanted. Of course, being the pervert he was, he began harassing several of the other arcade inhabitants, resulting in his removal. The guy was a good friend, but he seriously needed to learn how to obey boundaries. 

"Shut up. It only happened to him," Souda responded before puffing out his chest. "I've been on my best behavior."

"So far," Koizumi stated before rolling her eyes. "It's only a matter of time before you do something."

"Hey! I'm not a pervert!"

"Souda. You're one of my best friends, but you're undeniably a pervert. Trust me, I know seeing as I've had to listen to several of your speeches about Sonia."

"Well screw you too Hinata," Souda pouted. 

"Uh…shouldn't we go after him?" Sonia asked, looking up from the shooter game she was playing with Nanami. 

"Yeah…I don't think that's the best idea right now," Koizumi responded. "Seeing as he's probably been banned from the arcade now."

Quickly looking up from her game, Nanami let out a loud yawn before speaking. "Isn't this the third place he's been banned from?"

"I'm pretty sure it is," Souda responded, scratching his cheek, causing Hinata to look at him in surprise. 

"Whoa, three places? How the hell does someone get banned from three places while somber?"

"I have no idea," Koizumi responded. "Hanamura' somehow managed to do so while being himself. Trust me, you don't want to know what happened at the other two places."

0000

After spending three hours at the arcade, Souda and Hinata decided to walk home together. The arcade wasn't far from Hopes Peak, allowing the two friends to make the trip together. After all, Souda did dorm in the school while Hinata's house was only a few blocks away from the school. They had originally asked Nanami, Sonia, and Koizumi if they wanted to tag along, seeing as they lived in the dorms as well, but the three girls declined, deciding to stay at the arcade for a little while longer. 

"Is it odd that I feel bad for Hanamura?" Souda asked Hinata as they began their walk. "I mean, the poor guy did get banned from the sweetest arcade in town. We also kinda abandoned him afterwards."

"Well, while he shouldn't have been perving on others, I still feel bad for him," Hinata answered. After Hanamura got the boot, the group did check on him to see if he was okay, but he simply dismissed his ban as a minor annoyance. Despite the group's willingness to hang out somewhere where he could join, the chef told them to enjoy the arcade without him. Despite his strange quirks, Hanamura was a very nice person. 

"Yeah. Oh shit! I forgot midterms are coming up. Have you been preparing something to show off?"

"Dude, midterms are a month away," Hinata told him. "Wait, what do you mean by 'preparing something?'"

"Oh, you haven't heard?" Souda asked, surprised. "Apparently instead of an actual exam, we have to show off our talents in some ways. The whole thing's kinda strange, seeing as some of the talents people have would be hard to show off. I mean, what the hell are Kuzuryuu and Komaeda supposed to do?"

"I have no idea, but now that I think about it, I'm really worried for Mioda," Hinata stated. Having unfortunately listened to Mioda's recent music, Hinata could only describe such terrible music with one word, horrifying. "I don't think the judges will like her music."

"Dude, I don't think any sane person would willingly listen to her songs," Souda responded before laughing. "However, despite her hate for the genre, her pop songs are actually kick ass."

"Really? Who would have guessed? I'm thinking she's just getting used to playing heavy metal? Or is she just experimenting with a new style of songwriting?"

"Probably the latter. But I'm surprisingly not worried about her. She knows how to play and read music, but her lyrics tend to be…out there, unable to be saved by her amazing voice. As long as she doesn't do anything abstract, she'll easily dominate her exams. So, what are you doing for your exam?"

"I…honestly have no idea," Hinata said truthfully. Despite having researched the school, he had no clue about how Hopes Peak held their exams. This event may pose a problem to him, seeing as he supposedly has multiple talents at his disposal. Would his exam have him display his abilities as the ultimate hope? Will his performance be public? These were questions he needed to ask Mr. Kirigiri as soon as possible. 

"I just realized that I have no idea what your talent is," Souda stated, his eyes widening. "Like, I understand that you have to keep it a secret and all, but I don't understand why?"

"Neither do I," Hinata lied. "After being invited to this school, Mr. Kirigiri just told me to keep my mouth shut about my talent. Anyways, what are you going to do for your exam."

"Build a machine."

"Obviously, but what type?"

"I was originally thinking about building a car, but I'm instead going to build an air conditioner," Souda probably exclaimed as the duel approached the school campus. "It's much simpler than a car, meaning that it costs less to build."

"Well, I wish you luck," Hinata exclaimed, the two standing in front of the school's entrance. "I'll see you tomorrow!"

"Same. Night man," Souda said before walking into the building. Waiting a few seconds, Hinata made his way home himself, pondering about the new problems presented to him.


	13. Thinking, Plans, and Love ?!

Having arrived at school earlier than usual, Hinata swiftly made his way to Mr. Kirigiri's office. After learning of the exams Hopes Peak held each semester, the ultimate hope needed to ask the headmaster for more information about them. After all, Hinata had to keep his talent a secret from nearly everyone, but how was he supposed to do so during the exams? According to Souda, the exams were essentially a performance. With the vast amount of talents the boy has in his procession, having to perform all of them in front of an audience could reveal his true identity. 

Nervously, Hinata knocked on the door to the headmaster's office. Hearing the voice of Mr. Kirigiri from the other side telling him to come in, Hinata entered the room. 

"Good morning Mister Kirigiri," Hinata greeted the headmaster. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything important."

"Don't worry, you're not," the headmaster said while giving the boy a professional smile. "What is it that you need?"

Closing the door behind him, Hinata took a seat on one of the two couches located in the room. "Well, I heard from a fellow student that exams were coming up and I was wondering what was going to happen with me. Will I have to perform with the rest of my classmates, or will I have a private exam?"

"Originally I was going to inform you about your exams at a later date, but since you're already here, I'll just tell you now," Mr. Kirigiri informed the boy. "Yes, your exams will be private. They'll take place in the biology room and as for the components of your exam, they'll include an academic portion and a performance section. The academic portion will include harder versions of the material you've learned in school, seeing as part of our agreement was that you'd attend classes nearly everyday while being given two days you can take off each month. As for the performance, it'll be split into two parts, the first testing your physical abilities while the second will involve you having to prepare something special."

"Something special?"

"Yes, something that wouldn't normally be put on an exam. Examples include baking something out of this world, sewing an article of clothing which would become the next fashion trend, or singing a song with both the voice and lyrics powerful enough to make a professional fighter cry in sorrow. Be creative and wow the judges. I'm excited to see what the ultimate hope will surprise us with."

"I'll try my best to impress you," Hinata said, the boy becoming more nervous each second. The last portion of the exam really had him worried. "I better head back to class. I'll see you later."

"Good bye Hinata," Mr. Kirigiri stated as the boy walked out of the office and went straight to his homeroom. 

0000

As his classmates chattered with one another, Hinata sat in a deep silence. While he was glad he didn't have to perform in public, the performance section of the exam still worried him. With all the talents Mr. Kirigiri had been exposed to, how was he supposed to think of something to impress the man? Granted, he still had a month to decide, but he's probably seen everything already. After all, he was the freaking headmaster of a school filled the most talented people alive. 

'Maybe I could build something?' Hinata mentally questioned himself. 'Oh right, Souda's going to be doing that. How about juggling? That'd work, if he was eight years old. Doing anything physical such as gymnastics or fighting won't work, seeing as I'll already be tested on that. I could give cooking a shot, but wasn't one of the upperclassmen doing good that as well? Damnit! This is going to be so frustrating, I can already tell.'

"U-um Hinata?" A shy voice spoke, causing Hinata to snap out of his mini-trance. Turning his head to his right, the boy saw Tsumiki giving him a concerned stare. "A-are you okay? You seem stressed. You've broken your pencil."

"I have?" The ultimate hope asked, glancing down at the had he was holding his utensil with. It was as the nurse said, it was completely broken. Looking back at his best friend, he gave her a reassuring smile. "Oh, I have. I'm okay though, just having a hard time deciding what to do for my exam."

"I-I may not know your talent, but I'm sure you'll figure something out," Tsumiki exclaimed. "Y-you're easily the most amazing person I've met."

"D-don't say things like that," Hinata told her, blushing. That remark had caught him completely off guard. Having expected a storm of apologies to come from the girl, Hinata waited a few seconds before speaking, surprised that it never came. It seemed she was comfortable enough with him to not constantly apologize for stuff she never did. "That spot clearly goes to you."

"M-me?!" The girl shouted in surprise, her face red as a tomato. Another thing she seemed to do was blush a bit more around him, but the ultimate hope brushed it off as nervousness. Despite her comfort around him, the nurse still displayed cautious behavior. 

"You're willing to help those in need, no matter who they are. If that doesn't make you a good person, then I don't know what does. You're the nicest person I've met."

T-t-thank you," the Tsumiki stuttered, her face somehow becoming even more red than before. Unable to look at Hinata's smiling face any longer without her heart bracing itself to jump out of her chest, the nurse quickly turned her face away from the boy. The girl had no idea why she felt this way when she was around Hinata. Perhaps it was because he was her friend? It could also be that he was the first person to ever treat her with kindness for a long period of time. Or perhaps it was something else, an emotion stronger than any other? 

Checking her heartbeat, the girl was surprised to see that it was beating at a faster pace than usual. Unfortunately, she couldn't think much about it due to the entrance of Yukizome. 

"Good morning everyone!" The teacher greeted ecstatically, causing everyone to turn to face her, questioning whether was making their teacher behave in such a fashion. Though usually cheery, the ex-ultimate housekeeper was clearly more excited today. "I've got great news for you all!"

"Is Hanamura finally leaving the school?" Saionji asked the teacher, her face on her desk. 

"Perhaps we're getting a new kid," Mitarai said, putting his two cents in. Judging by the head shake the teacher was giving them, it seemed the two ultimates were wrong. 

"Nope and nope! Seeing as exams are coming up soon, I've decided to schedule a class trip the week before. That way, you could relax and have fun before eventually preparing."

"YAHOO!" Mioda shouted, perfectly displaying the excitement felt by most of the class. "A class trip?! Ibuki's like, super stoked! Class trips usually have parties in them! I can't wait to set one up! It'll be the most wild party EVER!"

"What class trips have you gone to?" Souda asked the hyperactive singer. "Most of the ones I've went on were lame. Hell, most of them involved total silence to be had between the students."

"Don't you worry about having another boring trip," Yukizomi informed the mechanic. "Where we're going, there'll be plenty of time to host several parties."

"Uh, where are we going?" Koizumi asked the woman. 

"Perhaps it's the very pits of hell itself!" Tanaka exclaimed before letting out one of his 'maniacal' laughs, causing Sonia's eyes to widen and sparkle. 

"You've went to hell before?" The princess asked him. "I'm impressed. I didn't know you're truly that powerful, powerful enough to come back from such a dangerous place unharmed."

"Indeed I have. Perhaps you could accompany me to my next voyage…"

"I'd love to!"

"Sonia, please don't encourage him…" Souda begged the princess, only for her to ignore him as usual. 

"Yeah, no. We're not going there," Yukizome said, shooting down the bizarre theory. "We'll be spending three days and two nights at Yuigahama beach!" 

"The beach?" Nidai asked himself out loud, letting out a boisterous laugh afterwards. "Now I can test my new beach training regimen!"

"The beach huh," Hanamura said before blood began pouring out of his nose. "You know what that means? Beach babes! Lots and lots of beach babes!"

"Hell yeah!" Souda shouted in excitement. "I'm so ready for this!"

"Do I have to keep you both on a leash?" Koizumi sternly asked the two boys. "If so, I'll certainly do it, but just know that once we get back I'll be pissed at you two for ruining my vacation."

"Getting tied up by Miss Koizumi…sounds trilling," the perverted chef chuckled to himself, only to earn another glare from both Koizumi and Saionji. 

"The beach sounds fun..." Nanami exclaimed before letting out a loud yawn. If she was as excited as everyone else was, the ultimate gamer was surly hiding it well. 

"I've talked it over with the board and they gave me full permission to take you all over there," Yukizome informed her students. "I think some class bonding time will be good for you all. This is also a reward for the fact all of you have attended your classes nearly every day."

For the rest of homeroom, the beach was all anyone could talk about before the bell rang, signaling the start of classes. 

0000

"So, the beach," Hinata stated as he and Tsumiki took their daily walk home together. "Are you excited?"

"Absolutely," the nurse responded with a smile. "I love the feeling of the seawater. B-but…"

"Huh? What's wrong?" Hinata asked his friend. 

"A-as much as I love the beach, I really hate wearing a swimsuit. People tend to stare…" the nurse informed him, blushing in embarrassment. "It gets uncomfortable after awhile."

"I could only imagine," Hinata said, understanding the origins of her discomfort. "I'd feel the same way if I were you. If you decide not to go swimming, I'll keep you company."

"I-I appreciate it, but I wouldn't want you to sacrifice a chance of having fun to keep me company."

"It's fine. I don't really like staying in the ocean for long periods of time anyways."

"T-thank you," Tsumiki said. It seemed Hinata was always willing to make time for her. She truly appreciated this about him. 

"No problem. Well, this is my stop," Hinata informed her, pointing towards his house. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Expecting a normal departure, Hinata began to turn himself towards his house, only for Tsumiki to give him a surprise hug, stunning the boy. 

"Goodbye Hinata," the girl said as she held the boy tighter. After a few seconds of doing nothing, Hinata decided to return the hug. Eventually, the girl released him before walking away with a small smile, allowing Hinata to return home himself. 

0000

"Why did I hug him?" Tsumiki asked herself as she continued walking home by herself. "B-better question, why did I hug him?"

It was true that the girl had no intention of hugging Hinata as she walked with him, but once the two were prepared to separate for the day, her body instinctively threw itself at him. It was also true that she didn't want to let go, the nurse wanted to stay in the same position forever. 

"W-what's happening to me?" Tsumiki asked herself another question. The nurse has noticed how new emotions developed inside her the longer she interacted with Hinata. Jealousy boiled up inside her whenever he spoke to other girls, believing that he would soon hang out with them and completely forgot about her. Embarrassment flooded her face whenever he gave her a compliment. While she's received some in the past, something about getting praised specifically by Hinata made her knees weak. And then there was his personality in general. The way he was willing to make sacrifices for her made Tsumiki want to grab onto him and never let go and smiles seemed to be contagious, causing her to smile as well. 

"M-maybe I'm sick? T-that has to be it!" The girl exclaimed. "B-but with what? I've never felt this way before. I'll have to do some research."

Unknown to Tsumiki, what she was feeling was something that nearly everyone felt at one point or another. It was something which was believed to be the strongest force on Earth. What she was feeling wasn't sickness, but something which could either serve as medicine or can mimic the symptoms of an illness. 

What she was feeling…

It was the beginning stages of love.


	14. Chapter 14: Arriving at Vacation

"You've been pushing yourself too much. Eat," Mitarai said as he placed a bag of food next to a boy working on a computer. If one were to witness this scene, they would immediately notice that the other boy appeared to be a carbon copy of Mitarai, except for the fact he was much thinner. The other boy also looked sickly, having large bags under his eyes. 

Not looking up, the boy nodded in acknowledgment. "Thanks."

"No problem," Mitarai responded in a tone more serious than the one he normally used. "How's the project coming along?"

"Because of you, it's going better than I expected it to," the boy told him. "I'm already about halfway done. I might actually finish before senior year if everything continues to go smoothly."

"That's good. I can't wait to see the final result. Anyways, as you know, I'll be gone for a few days starting tomorrow. I'll need to know if you're going to be fine without me. You often tend to neglect your health if you're not reminded to keep yourself safe. Just to remind you, I don't mind staying behind if you think you'll still need me around."

"I'll be fine, don't worry," the boy informed him, not taking his eyes off his computer. "I'll make sure to stay safe. With everything you've done for me, you deserve a good break."

"All I've done was impersonate you."

"You've also taken care of me and have given me a decent working space," the real Mitarai told him. "And because you've been attending classes for me, I've been able to focus on making my 'hope video.'"

Hearing this, the imposter gave the boy a small smile. "If you say so. Speaking of breaks, you should take one now and eat. I brought you sushi."

0000

The next two weeks came and went by quickly with nothing particularly important happening. That is if you don't count the daily shenanigans his classmates stirred up, which Hinata didn't. After nearly two months of interacting with his friends, he knew the type of situations they could cause each day. However, they still didn't manage to bore him, seeing as there would always be a time someone did something unpredictable. Examples include when Komaeda announced he found one thousand yen on his chair or when Pekoyama somehow managed to scare away a mouse who invaded the classroom by letting out a soft sign. The past two weeks lacked those sort of events though, making them a bit boring to the ultimate hope. Well, even with such a unique class, uneventful days were bound to pop up frequently. 

As for his time with the students at Hopes Peak Elementary, Hinata was finally able to get a peek into Kotoko's life, which repulsed him to no end. Apparently, she has been sexually abused for quite a while now, causing her to be triggered by the word 'gentle.' It was obvious that those who preyed on the innocent girl did exactly the opposite. Hinata had tried to get some information about the topic, but the young girl often pushed him away, claiming that the sexual abuse she suffered was in the past. However, Hinata was smart enough to believe she wasn't telling the truth. 

The lives these kids lived made him sick. He desperately wanted to do something, but as long as the young kids remained silent about their pasts, then he was powerless to help them. He would have called the police by now, but without any suspects, there was nothing they could do. It was true that he had heightened analytical abilities and he could pinpoint the exact people who took advantage of such innocent children, but gathering proof was another thing. These kids desperately kept themselves silent, fearing for what may happen if they did rat out their families. Monaca had it the worst in that regard, her father owning the very large and powerful Towa industry. He could easily hire a lawyer to escape any consequences for his actions. As such, Hinata had to wait until he's officially earned their trust, which was proving to be pretty hard to achieve. While the kids did enjoy his company, they didn't exactly throw themselves at him and tell him everything that's going on in their lives. Hell, he still didn't know Nagisa's issues, though Hinata highly suspected it had to deal with him being overexerted by his family. 

0000

"Hey dude, what type of swimsuit do you think Sonia will be wearing to the beach?" Souda asked his friend as they rode a train to Yuigahama. After a boring two weeks, it was finally time for class 77 to go on their mini-vacation. Like everyone else, Hinata was quite excited about the trip. This would be his first official outing with his entire class, and if hanging out with a small group of his class proved to be eventful, then this trip will certainly be something special. 

Shrugging his shoulders, Hinata answered his friend's question truthfully. "I honestly have no idea, nor do I care."

"Hm…she wore a wetsuit last time out of curiosity, so maybe she'll finally wear something more skimpy? Please let this be so!"

"S-sorry Souda, but she's wearing a wetsuit again," Tsumiki meekly told the mechanic. "She said it was so comfortable that she was going to keep wearing one."

Souda gave the nurse a disappointed look upon hearing the news. "Damnit! There goes some of my excitement for this trip."

Speaking of the nurse, Hinata felt that she's been acting strange recently. For the past two weeks, it felt as she never left his side. They were close before, but now it seemed she constantly wished to be around him. It should also be noted that whenever she spoke with him, her face seemed to turn a bright red. Was there something she wanted to tell him? For someone with multiple talents, he honestly had no idea what was wrong with his friend. He constantly asked her if she was alright, only for her to say that she 'couldn't be any better.' Her stuttering had also seemed to decrease as well whenever she was around him, which was a good thing, but it was still there whenever she spoke to anyone else. Hinata found it quite strange, surly she would be more comfortable around her classmates by now?

Then again, she wasn't the only one who's behavior changed solely around him. Pekoyama often seemed more agitated whenever he spoke to her. Whenever he approached her, she would grab the hilt of her bamboo sword as if she was expecting him to attack her. She also kept conversations brief, only giving one word answers before walking away from the boy. He honestly didn't understand where her distaste for him came from, perhaps she felt he was a dangerous individual? But if that were true, then she should be treating Owari, Nidai, and Hanamura the same way. After all, the former two were professional athletes who could rival her in physical combat while Hanamura was unpredictable. But the swords-woman didn't, acting a bit more civil to them. He'll have to get some answers later. 

Lastly, there was Komaeda. While not as noticeable as the two females, he did act differently around him than he did with anyone else. However, his motivation for doing so was obvious. He wanted to learn about Hinata's talent, anyone could see that. Whenever he spoke with Komaeda, the lucky student seemed to be analyzing him, looking for anything that could tell him more about Hinata. Though Komaeda was a bit strange, he didn't seem to be a bad person. As long as Hinata kept his guard up around him, he had nothing to fear. 

"If it makes you feel better, at least she's wearing some sort of swimsuit," Hinata said to Souda as an attempt to cheer him up. The last thing Hinata needed was to babysit a depressed Souda. As another attempt to raise his friend's mood, Hinata decided to crack a small joke. "If you really want to get her into something else, why not have Komaeda do something about it? Knowing him and his luck, you're bound to get some results."

Swinging his arm around Hinata, Souda gave him a sly smile. "That's a wonderful idea. Man, this is why you're my soul brother! Well if you excuse me, I'm off to speak with a certain hope maniac."

Watching Souda leave, Hinata looked at Tsumiki before letting out a loud sigh. "What have I done?"

0000

"Yukizome…how were you able to afford this place?" Mitarai asked his teacher a question all of class 77 shared. The hotel they were going to be staying at appeared to have leaped out of a movie, having the appearance of a stereotypical five star hotel. With the entire walls being made of expensive looking stone and the hotel being in a location where a wonderful view of the beach was present, it seemed drastically out of a teacher's league. Apparently, Yukizome had some secrets…perhaps she was connected with this place somehow? To Hinata, it didn't matter seeing as he felt like he was in paradise. He honestly was expecting Yukizome to let the class know this was the wrong hotel and then take them to a run down one, but thankfully that never happened. 

"I may have pulled some strings, but that stuff doesn't matter," Yukizome answered with a smile before handing out a key to eight of her students. "Anyways, there's sixteen of you and I've purchased eight rooms. As such, you'll each have to get into groups of two. I'll let you pick out the groups yourselves."

"So what you're saying is that we can even dorm with someone of the opposite gender?" Hanamura asked, clearly excited by the sheer thought of doing so. As everyone else began to glare at the chef, Hinata could have sworn he saw Pekoyama and Kuzuryuu sneak away from the others and head into a room. While he had figured out they knew each other during his first week at the main course, he didn't think they were close enough to be comfortable sharing a room with one another. 

"Yep! However, if I even suspect that any of you are up to no good, I won't hesitate on using 'disciplinary actions.'" Yukizome responded as she gave everyone a threatening smile, scaring everyone but Hanamura, who appeared to be getting more aroused each millisecond. "Other than that, knock yourselves out!"

As soon as she finished, everyone began to form their groups, some of them being made right away. Saionji and Koizumi were already heading towards a room, the same went for Tanaka and Nidai, which came as a surprise. Hinata didn't know the two were close. Friends, yes, but he honestly expected them to form a group with Sonia and Owari respectively. Perhaps they didn't feel comfortable sharing a room with someone of the opposite gender?

As Hinata was about to search for someone who didn't have a key, he felt a slight tug on his shirt. Turning around, he saw Tsumiki giving him a meek smile as she held onto his shirt. 

"Umm…" the girl began, seemingly nervous about something. She wasn't about to ask Hinata what he thought she was, was she? "I-I was wondering if y-you wanted to s-share a room."

Watching the nurse attempt to ask this question was the most painful moment Hinata's ever had to endure. It seemed she pushed herself to her limits just to form those words. It was also the most shocking thing Hinata's ever seen, never expecting such a bold move to come from the normally meek Tsumiki. 

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Hinata asked her. Giving him a curious glance, the nurse nodded at him. 

"I do."

"But you know that I'm a guy and you're a girl, right?"

"Y-yeah... but I trust you," Tsumiki said, giving him a shy smile as her face turned red. As hard as he tried, he couldn't hide the blush forming on his face. The fact she had such an abundance of trust for him was too much for the boy to comprehend right away. 

"I-if you're fine with it, then I guess we could share a room, but not a bed, okay? Think of it as a safety measure," Hinata told her as most of the groups finished forming. It seemed Mioda would be bunking with Nanami while Sonia and Owari would be sharing a room, which was unexpected. After all, both groups contained members who were polar opposites of one another. Sonia and Nanami were more quiet than the rambunctious Mioda and Owari. 

Excluding Tsumiki and Hinata, there were only three people left for Mitarai to choose from and seeing how two of them were possibly complete nut-jobs, the animator snagged Souda, leaving the lucky student and chef as the members of the last group. It looked as if Hinata and Tsumiki's group was the only co-ed one besides the one formed by Pekoyama and Kuzuryuu. 

"I don't see why it'll be a problem," Tsumiki said in an uncharacteristically confident voice, causing the ultimate hope to choke on his own saliva. Though she was certainly less shy than she was when he first met her, he didn't expect her to sound remotely confident until the end of their senior year. 

"Who are you and what have you done to the real Tsumiki?" Hinata asked the nurse, only to get a giggle in response. If Hinata had to guess what was happening to his friend, he would say the fact they were on vacation seemed to influence her mood. It felt like the most logical explanation to him. Eventually deciding to go unpack their bags, the two friends went to their room, despite Hinata's nervousness. After all, this would be his first time sleeping in the same room with a female not from his family. 

0000

After hugging Hinata two weeks ago, Tsumiki had done some extensive research to see what had infected her body. First, she looked up the symptoms for all known illnesses on the internet, only to find that none of them perfectly matched what she was feeling. However, that didn't stop her, seeing as she continued to repeat the same steps for an entire week. She then went for a checkup at a nearby doctors office, only for the results to show she was completely healthy. Frustrated, the nurse soon turned to asking strangers on a lovely website known as Yahoo Answers for help. It was then she found out what was wrong with her. 

She wasn't suffering from an illness or disease…but from something known as love. 

At first, the nurse denied the possibility, seeing as Hinata was her best friend. You can't fall in love with a friend, right? Well, it turns out you can. As Tsumiki kept trying to deny her feelings, she couldn't help but think about the boy. Though he wasn't a model, he was certainly attractive. But that wasn't what drew her towards him. Hinata was unbelievably kind to her, always making time for the nurse. He was also willing to defend her, having fought off the group of bullies who attempted to steal her money a few months back. How could Tsumiki, someone who originally had no one looking out for her but herself, not fall in love with him?

Unfortunately, this discovery brought a new set of problems. She found it harder to communicate with him now, constantly having to resist the urges of running away in embarrassment or latching onto him, never to let go. It also felt like she would faint every time he smiled at her or expressed worry about her. 

However, unlike all the other times she was presented with a non-nursing related issue, Tsumiki wasn't going to run away. She was ready to face her fears head on for the first time, somehow, which was why she asked him to share a room with her. If she could handle this, then surely she could handle confessing to her friend in the future. After all, Hinata wasn't the type of person who would stop being her friend because of such a small issue, right?

Fueled by this, Tsumiki becoming mentally preparing for the next few days she would spend with Hinata, planning to use the vacation to get even closer to him than she already was. 

Man was she nervous…


	15. Vacation Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's note: Hey everyone, Fireslash here and welcome to another chapter of Healing Wounds. It's been a while. Before you try and shoot me for not updating since AUGUST 23rd, I do have my reasons. First off, school has been occupying my time. Secondly, I actually lost interest for this story for a long time. I was honestly having so much fun with my other stories (who's updating time is still slow) that I haven't been able to update this story. Lastly, I've been trying to fix grammatical errors in this story, 'cause there's quite a lot of them. I'll post the fixes at a later date. Despite all this, I'm glad that most of you still continue to stick with this story despite its awkward updating time. Anyways, this chapter is a bit short seeing as I have to build up for when Hinamiki actually becomes cannon in this story. Until then, review and enjoy :-).

'Ever since I was young, I've always wanted to help others,' Hinata thought to himself as he laid down on one of the beds in his hotel room. On the other bed was Tsumiki, who had fallen asleep an hour ago. 'But I always believed that I couldn't. Yet now that I have all these talents, I can, so why haven't I done anything yet?'

Honestly, Hinata had no idea why he was thinking about this right now. He was on vacation, he should be enjoying himself. But then again, he couldn't sleep, which can cause people to daydream about the most bizarre things as they try to fall asleep. 

Either way, the boy felt somewhat useless. While he did help Tsumiki solve most of her problems, she was the only person he could say he's helped. There were others who needed help just as much as she did, yet he hasn't payed any attention to them. The biggest example of this was the kids at Hopes Peak Elementary. Like Tsumiki, they were victims of abuse. One of was a serial victim of child molestation for crying out loud! Yet despite this, none of the kids knew that he figured out that they had problems. 

'Once we get back, I'm going to make sure that those kids are safe,' Hinata mentally told himself before he closed his eyes. 'That's a promise.'

0000

...For someone with multiple skills, Hinata could be quite oblivious, for he was more helpful than he gives himself credit for being. He was the one who helped Nanami bond with her classmates on his second day of school. And even if he was just only playing with the kids at Hopes Peak Elementary, he was already making a difference in their lives. For once, none of them had to fear anyone older than them. Even if it was for a short time, the five kids could finally act their age.

Not only has he made their lives better, but he's helped Tsumiki as well. Anyone who knew her could tell you that before she met Hinata, she was the textbook example of someone suffering from depression. After all, her life was miserable seeing as she was constantly tossed to the side like a used tissue, even by her parents. Yet, all the negativity in her life disappeared when she first met Hinata. With him around, all her problems were expelled and she was able to feel happiness for the first time since she was a young child. 

With this in mind, it was clear Hinata's underestimating himself. After all, it was because of him that Tsumiki and the students of Hopes Peak Elementary had a basic understanding of what hope is...

0000

Even though he was having rather negative thoughts before he had fallen asleep, Hinata woke up the next day feeling energized. He honestly couldn't wait to start exploring the beach. Apparently the boardwalk was rather nice…

As Hinata began to remove his blanket, he noticed that he felt a bit heavier than usual, like gravity was working against him. Looking towards his left, it didn't take him long to figure out why. Tsumiki was laying on him, fast asleep. As expected, this caused Hinata to mentally freak out. Not only was she sleeping on him even though he refused to share a bed with her, but she also happened to be cuddling him, with his face dangerously close to her chest. 

"Uh, Tsumiki, please wake up," Hinata begged the girl, gently shaking her. 'Please don't get the wrong idea.'

"…zzz…stop that…it tickles," the nurse mumbled under her breath as she continued to sleep. Thankfully, it only took a few more shakes to wake her up. "Huh…GHAAA!"

Throwing herself off the ultimate hope, the girl immediately began doing what she was best known for, apologizing. "I-I'm so sorry. I w-was planning on waking you up, b-but you looked so comfortable."

"…I'm not going to question how that led to you falling asleep," Hinata said with a sigh. "Wait, since you tried to wake me up, does that mean that we missed some sort of role call or something?"

"No, but everyone else was at one of the two built in restaurants once I went down. I went up to get you because I thought you would like to eat with them. I'm sorry."

"Don't be. Uh, I'm going to get dressed now. Afterwards, do you want to explore the hotel for a bit?"

"S-sure. That sounds nice."

"Ok. Don't come into the bathroom." With that, Hinata dashed into the bathroom with a pair of cloths in hand. 

0000

"Ok, so apparently this place has an arcade, an indoor swimming pool, and you said two restaurants, right?"

"Yes…"

"So, where do you want to go to first?" Hinata asked the girl as he began planning their day. To be honest, he could care less where they go. He was a simple man, he could manage to have fun anywhere that wasn't a clothing store. He wasn't one for fashion. However, he did have his preferences. "The arcade sounds fun, but I know that you're not interested in that sort of stuff."

"I-I may not be a gamer, but the arcade does sound nice," Tsumiki replied. "There's nowhere I desperately want to go to."

"Alright, the arcade it is."

0000

When the two arrived at the arcade, Hinata payed for some tokens for the two of them, despite the fact Tsumiki refused, wanting to pay for her own. Afterwards, the two friends began playing various games, such as pinball, a co-op version of the famous Pac-man, and several other stereotypical arcade games. Eventually, the two split up for a brief amount of time. Apparently, the nurse saw a stuffed animal in one of the arcade's various crane games that she desperately wanted. Meanwhile, Hinata was spending him time shooting hoops at one of the arcade's basketball games. Despite the hoops being rigged in the fact they were exactly the same size as the basketballs, the boy was able to get a perfect score. 

"And to think I used to see this as a challenge…how boring," Hinata muttered to himself. As mentioned before, ever since Hinata underwent his transformation, a lot of things he used to find fun began to bore him due to the lack of a challenge they would give him. Speaking of the Hope Cultivation Program, he was going to need a new haircut soon...

"Hey Tsumiki, how's it going?" The boy asked, though based on the girl's slightly stressed out posture, he could tell that she was having no luck with the crane. 

"I-I can't seem to get it," the girl sadly told him. "And I ran out of tokens..."

"Let me try," Hinata offered, inserting his last token into the machine. "Which is the one that you want?"

"T-that one," the girl said as she shakily pointed at a stuffed bear wearing a doctor's outfit. 

'Why did I even ask?' Hinata thought to himself as he assumed control of the crane. With a large amount of precision and skill, the boy managed to navigate the claw right above the toy, securing victory against the machine. Once the toy fell out of the machine, Hinata presented it to the nurse with a smile. "Here you go."

A slight blush forming on her cheeks, Tsumiki grabbed the bear. "Thank you."

"Not a problem. Well, since we're out of tokens, do you want to help me pick out a few prizes before we leave?" Hinata asked before gesturing towards the multiple tickets wrapped around the boy. "I don't know what to do with these tickets, but I don't want to waste them."

"S-sure."

0000

After practically littering their room with the stuffed animals Hinata spent his tickets on, the two friends decided to grab a bite at one of the two built in restaurants. Though going to the pool was still an option, Tsumiki wanted to wait until nighttime, when everyone else was asleep. The girl was quite self conscious when it came to wearing a swimsuit, finding it uncomfortable when people stare at her. 

Anyways, there were two restaurants the two could chose from; a small traditional styled restaurant or a larger one which serves as a club at night. With both of them not liking loud noises, Hinata and Tsumiki decided to go to the traditional restaurant over the nightclub. 

"It looks like Koizumi kept her word," Hinata told Tsumiki once the two took a seat. A few minutes ago, they had seen Koizumi and Nidai dragging an upset Souda and Hanamura via ropes. Knowing the two boys, they probably tried perving on some of the girls. "So, do you like tempura? I was thinking of sharing a large order, that is, if that's ok with you."

"I-I'm not really a picky eater," Tsumiki replied. "So I'm fine with sharing. C-can we also have some onigiri? It's my favorite…"

"Sure, I'm cool with that." 

Thankfully, it didn't take long for a waiter to arrive at their table. The waiter was an older woman who had black hair, brown eyes, and so happened to be taller than Tsumiki, yet was shorter than Hinata. 

"Welcome to Yamagishi Cafe," the waiter greeted. Upon setting eyes on the pair, the woman flashed them a sly smile. "My, my… what a cute couple you two are…"

"You've got that wrong!" Hinata exclaimed, blushing in embarrassment. Thankfully he didn't notice the disappointed which flashed on the nurse's face. "W-we're just friends. Honest!"

"Is that so? Well then, that's a shame. So what would you like to order?"

After giving the waiter their orders, Hinata realized something. 

"Hey Tsumiki, could we split the bill? I forgot to use the ATM while we were at the hotel…"

0000

"Ok…run that by me again. How the hell did this even happen in the first place?"

After eating, Hinata and Tsumiki had begun making their way back to the hotel to prepare for the pool, only to bump into Komaeda and Nanami. It was then that the ultimate lucky student called them over to inform them about his latest misadventures. 

"*Yawn…* Komaeda and I were walking around the hotel when we saw a raffle. The winning prize was ownership of a five star cruise ship, so we decided to enter. I didn't expect to win anything, but I managed to win some spare batteries. Komaeda however won first place. It probably because of his ultimate luck…I think."

"Yep, pretty lucky if I do say so myself," Komaeda calmly added. "Now Ms. Yukizome doesn't have to worry about paying for the trip back."

"Okay... there's no way we'll be able to take the boat back to Hopes Peak," Hinata explained. "First off, the amount of fuel needed would require everyone to waste all of their vacation money."

"The boat comes with enough fuel to last thirty days," Nanami informed him. 

"The hell? Uh, anyways, you also need to factor in the fact no one we know knows how to drive a boat."

"Not to worry, I'm pretty sure Ms. Yukizome knows how to drive a boat. If she doesn't, then we can just find someone else who knows how to do so."

"Uh, you have fun doing that. I'm just going to do something else…"

0000

After parting ways with Nanami and Komaeda, Hinata and Tsumiki loitered around the hotel for a bit until nighttime struck. It was then that they decided to actually do something. 

"Are you sure you're ok with me tagging along with you?" Hinata asked, worried. His fear was natural though, for it would only be the two of them at the pool. "I mean, I know how uncomfortable wearing a swimsuit is to you, especially when there's others around you."

"Y-yes, I'm fine," the nurse reassured him. "Like I said, I trust you."

"O-ok, if you're sure," Hinata said before walking into the pool. As he did this, Tsumiki removed the towel she was wearing, revealing that she was wearing the school's swimwear. 

When Hinata turned to look at her, his face immediately turned crimson red. He forgot how beautiful Tsumiki was. Well, that was a lie; he always knew she was a stunning individual. However, with the moonlight hitting her skin, looking at her made the boy lightheaded. 

Turning his face in embarrassment, Hinata began swimming, hoping the girl didn't catch him staring. But as it turns out, Tsumiki did catch him staring, and she didn't mind it at all. She actually found it quite flattering. 

'You have no idea what you do to me Hinata,' Tsumiki thought to herself before swimming after her friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're still aching for something to read, please consider reading all my other stories. If you enjoy this one, I think you'll enjoy my other works.


	16. Shit Gets Real

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's note: Hey everyone, FireSlash here and welcome to another chapter of Healing Wounds. As you all know, the story's turned two years old already, so I want to take time to thank each and every one of you for all the support you've given me throughout this journey. When I first began writing, I didn't expect this thing to garner the attention it has. Much to my surprise, this story is the 20th most favorited and 13th most followed Danganronpa fic on Fanfiction.net as of writing this. Seriously, I can't tell you how much your support means to me, even to those of you who just took the time to read this story about a somewhat rare pairing (which should be more popular btw. Hinamiki for life!). I owe you a lot. I must say, I enjoy writing this, and I'm kinda sad we're reaching the halfway point in a chapter or two, but at the same time, I'm glad to see how much this story's grown. :-).
> 
> Heh, I'm kind of getting repetitive now, so I'm just going to leave now so you can get to the story. Review and enjoy :-).

Taking a sip from his glass of orange juice, Hinata smiled as he watched his classmates hang out at the beach. It’s been three days since they arrived at the hotel and the boy had to admit, he’s been having a blast. Originally, the boy thought he would end up being bored, for he wasn’t the partying type, but that wasn’t the case. Throughout the trip, he hung out with Tsumiki, sparred with Owari and Nidai, played some arcade games with Nanami, helped Souda spy on some girls (well, he himself didn’t do any spying. He was just there to make sure the mechanic didn’t get himself killed), teamed up with Hanamura to cook possibly the best meal ever created, aided Sonia and Tanaka with some occult stuff (don’t ask), assisted Koizumi and Saionji with some photography work, nearly ended up making a casino go bankrupt with Komaeda, bonded with Kuzuryuu and Mitarai, and killed it at karaoke with Mioda. Even Pekoyama seemed okay with the boy hanging around her, for he watched her hone her Kendo skills. He still didn’t know why she was always on edge when near him, but that was something he decided to deal with later. Now was the time for relaxation. 

Sadly, not all was sunshine and rainbows. Usually, whenever Hinata went swimming, he would wear a shirt. Before the operation, it was because he was self conscious, which was pretty funny since he had a rather fit body before. After the operation was a different story. He now had a body all men wished to achieve one day. Most would flaut such a body, but not Hinata. After all, he still wasn’t the most outgoing person. Unfortunately, now he had no choice but to do so, for someone mysteriously stole the shirt he was going to use whenever he went swimming. Truth be told, he had an idea who it was, but he didn’t know how to approach them. As such, he ended up just dealing with the loss of his shirt and went to the beach shirtless. This in turn caused the boy to receive some unwanted attention from nearly all the females at the beach, some even attempting to flirt with him. Again, he wasn’t the most social person, so this was all too awkward for him.

“Looks like someone’s popular,” Kuzuryuu said with a smirk, causing Hinata to groan.

“Tell me about it,” Souda said with a pout. “Geez dude, you’ve been having girls flocking towards you the entire day. Save some for us will ya?”

“Ugh, trust me when I say this isn’t fun at all,” Hinata groaned, causing Souda to shake his head.

“I find that hard to believe. Dude, I’d kill for some of those glances Sonia’s been throwing your way.”

“No you wouldn’t,” Kuzuryuu bluntly stated.

“Yeah, you’re right. But I’d be willing to do anything else for a killer bod like that. What’s your secret?”

“Uh… genetics?” Hinata weakly told him, obviously trying to hide the real reason his body was the way it was. Thankfully, Souda brought the excuse.

“Damn, seems like some people just have all the luck.”

“It sure does,” Kuzuryuu said. Coming from a business where lying was extremely common, Kuzuryuu knew Hinata was lying, he just wasn’t in the mood to pester him for the truth. 

An awkward silence befell the three boys, none of them having anything to talk about. Eventually, Hinata decided to ask Kuzuryuu a question.

“Hey Kuzuryuu? You know how the midterms are coming up soon?”

“Yeah, what about them?”

“What on Earth are you going to do for them? It’s not like your talent is simple to flaunt off like Souda’s or Mioda’s.”

“The headmaster said as long as the Kuzuryuu clan remains the most powerful branch of the Yakuza I can keep my title.”

“Sounds pretty tough,” Souda admitted. 

“It ain’t that hard,” Kuzuryuu shrugged. “You just gotta be slick, intimidating, and alert. If you show any signs of weakness, then you’ll be destroyed.”

Hinata gave the boy a worried stare. “Damn, sounds rough.”

“Tch, you get used to it. Shit’s not as bad as it seems. My family’s fucking rich, and we don’t do all that bad crap most Yakuza do. We rely on deals and favors.”

Nodding in understanding, Hinata began to develop a newfound respect for the ultimate Yakuza. Sadly, after his explanation, the three went silent again, trying to find something else to talk about. 

“Hell yeah! We win again!” Owari shouted, causing the boys to pay attention to the beach. It seems while Hinata was being flocked by women, some of his classmates had set up a game of volleyball. On one team were Owari, Nidai, Komaeda, Mitarai, and Nanami. On the other side were Mioda, Hanamura, Koizumi, Saionji, and Sonia. Looking around, he noticed the rest of his class were doing their own things. Pekoyama was on high alert, keeping an eye on her young master despite him telling her to have fun while Tanaka was checking out some of the wildlife which lived on the beach. As for Tsumiki, she had passed out upon seeing her crush shirtless, much to his embarrassment, so she was lying next to Pekoyama for protection against people like Hanamura. 

“Guys, is it me or is Owari’s team unbalanced?” Souda asked his friends.

“Oh definitely,” Hinata agreed. After all, two of the class’s best athletes were on that team. 

It seems as if the other team realized this as well, for after taking a timeout, Sonia approached the three boys, looking at Hinata.

“Greetings, I hope I’m not disrupting anything important,” Sonia politely said.

“Not at all!” Souda replied, excited that his crush was speaking to him. Well, she was addressing all of them, but the boy was willing to accept whatever he could get.

“That’s a relief,” Sonia said with a smile before turning to Hinata. “Hinata, would you be interested in playing a game of volleyball with us? You see, we’re losing quite a lot and we believe you’re inclusion would help tip the odds in our favor.”

“You guys mind if I play a game or two?” Hinata asked his pals.

“Eh, do whatever you want,” Kuzuryuu told him.

“Sure. But you do know the other side will need another player as well. I’ll be more than glad to fill in that spot.”

“Splendid!” Sonia gleefully exclaimed. 

“Now I can impress her with my mad volleyball skills,” Souda whispered to Hinata before the boy rolled his eyes.

“Isn’t that what you said when we had that video game tournament a while back, you know, the one where you lost all the games?”

“That was one time! This time I’ll win for sure.”

“Whatever you say…”

0000

“Everyone, I have returned with Hinata,” Sonia said, much to the relief of her friends.

“Whew, now we actually stand a chance,” Koizumi said, wiping sweat off her forehead.

“I just have to ask, what makes you think I’ll be enough to help you win?” Hinata asked his team. He didn’t recall using his full strength or speed when hanging out with any of his friends.

“You fought the two ogres yesterday and won,” Saionji bluntly told him, referring to Owari and Nidai. 

“Ibuki was sure you were going to die that day,” Mioda stated. 

‘Crap! I need to be more careful in the future,’ Hinata thought to himself before turning towards his team. “Let’s just do this.”

0000

With everyone taking their places, Hinata braced himself for what was going to happen next. It was decided Owari’s team was to serve first, and the gymnast would be the one doing the serving. Smirking, she tossed the ball upwards.

“Eat this!” Slamming the ball upwards, it flew over the net and began fastly descending towards the other team. Thankfully, Koizumi was able to slap the ball upwards, passing it Saionji who weakly passed it to Sonia, who then shot it over the net. Sadly, with surprising agility, Mitarai managed to prevent the ball from touching the ground, passing it to Souda who in turn passed it to Nidai. Having experience with volleyball, the ultimate team manager managed to launch the ball over the net in the blink of an eye. With the ball traveling at such high speeds, most of the opposing team weren’t willing to block such a shot, but not Hinata. Diving under it, he lightly hit it towards a shocked Koizumi, who in turn passed it to Hanamura. With the chef hitting the ball back over the net, Owari quickly passed the ball towards Souda, who tried hitting it towards Nidai, but he ended up messing up. Instead, it went towards Komaeda, who tossed it over the net. Normally, his luck would’ve caused something to happen right now, so the lucky student was surprised that Mioda managed to hit the ball back in the air with no problem. Tossing it to Sonia, the princess then passed it to Hinata. As the ball was heading towards him, time seemed to slow down for the boy as he tried to find where would be the best place to hit the ball. He ended up deciding that he was going to shoot it towards Nidai, for he wasn’t worried whether or not someone would be able to stop the ball. He knew no one would be able to, so he was more worried about trying to prevent any injuries from happening. If he hit it to Nidai’s left, no one will get hurt. As such, when the ball finally reached him, Hinata effortlessly spiked it over the net. Nidai obviously tried to stop the ball, but he wasn’t fast enough, for the ball ended up creating a mini crater when it landed, spilling sand all over the muscular teen. Everyone looked at the crater in disbelief before they looked at Nidai, who let loose a loud laugh a second later.

“I’ve never seen such power before,” Nidai exclaimed. “You are certainly something special.”

“Special indeed,” Komaeda muttered under his breath, something only Hinata managed to hear due to his increased senses.

“Yo, you guys up for another round?” Owari asked, causing everyone to nod. “‘Cause I ain’t resting till I beat you Hinata.”

“But I just joined the game. How could you possibly want revenge on me this early?”

“It seems the tides have turned,” Sonia declared as everyone began readying themselves for the next game. 

0000

After about two hours of playing, the game finally ended with Hinata’s team reigning victorious. Even though Hinata had to hold back to make the game fair, he ended up having a blast. The happy atmosphere was enough to keep him entertained. 

With the game having ended, Hinata found no reason to stay at the beach any longer. Changing back into his regular clothing, he decided to explore the boardwalk along with Tsumiki, who also had enough of the beach. 

“So, have anything specific you want to do?” Hinata asked the nurse as he took a bite from a hotdog he got from one of the various shops located at the boardwalk. Taking a few moments to think of something they could do together, the girl eventually spotted a large, multicolored stuffed bear which caught her eye. Sadly, the only way to get it was by winning a game of Milk Bottles, which was extremely hard to do.

“Let me guess, you want it?” Hinata asked her, even though he had already won her something earlier.

“Y-yes, if that isn’t too much trouble.”

“Psh, not at all.” Walking towards the game booth, Hinata put down a few yen. “One game please?”

Nodding, the man working the booth gave the boy three balls. “One in gets you any prize of your choosing. Good luck.”

Lazily watching the boy, he honestly expected him to fail just like nearly everyone else who attempted to play the game. Imagine his surprise when Hinata managed to not only get one ball in a milk bottle, but all three.

“Uh, so do I get three prizes or just one?” Hinata asked the man. For a few seconds, all he could do was stare at the ultimate hope with his jaw hanging down. Eventually, he managed to find his voice.

“I-I guess you get three prizes,” the man said, still in awe at the boy’s performance. 

“Sweet.” Before he did anything else, Hinata picked the bear Tsumiki wanted. He then picked out a large pink and white stuffed rabbit as well as a black stuffed bear. 

“F-for me?” Tsumiki asked as Hinata handed her the other two prizes.

“Yeah,” Hinata stated. “I don’t really care for stuffed animals, so why not give them to you?”

“Thank you,” the girl softly said before burying her head in the stuffed animals, trying to hide the large blush forming on her face. Having no reason to stay around the game booth any longer, the two decided to continue exploring the boardwalk.

“Y-you know, you seem to be good at a lot of things,” Tsumiki told Hinata as they walked. “What is your talent? I-I know you’re supposed to keep it a secret, but can’t you tell me?”

Frowning, Hinata shook her head. “Trust me when I say I really want to tell you, but I can’t. The headmaster himself said I can’t share my talent and knowing the people he works with, he’ll easily know if I spill the beans.”

“Oh, I understand.”

“Thanks. So, do you know what you’re going to do for the midterm?”

“Um, I think I’ll be operating on someone,” Tsumiki told him. “Apparently I’ll be assigned to a case where there’s little chance of someone succeeding. I-I’m kinda nervous.”

“Don’t be. I’ve seen what you can do with my own eyes and there’s hardly anything in the medical field you can’t do,” Hinata reassured her. “If you’re still unsure, then I’d be more than willing to be with you during the operation, you know, for moral support.”

“H-how are you so nice?” Tsumiki asked him, catching the boy off guard. 

“What do you mean?” Last time he checked, while he was a kind individual, there were others who’s selflessness would make him seem like a greedy bastard in comparison. 

“Ever since we met, you’ve always been looking out for me. Y-you protected me from those bullies I was paying, you’re always willing to hang out with me, and you’ve never said anything mean to me. What did I do to deserve your kindness?”

“Heh, you’re still worried about that?” Hinata playfully scoffed. “I’m do all that for you because you’re worth it. I genuinely enjoy spending time with you. And if I’m kind, then your a saint. I don’t care how many times I have to repeat myself if it’ll make you realize how great of a human being you are. Whew, that was awkward, sorry.”

“...” Staring at the boy, Tsumiki immediately wrapped him in a hug, nuzzling her head in his shoulder, much to his surprise. “I-I’m so happy that I meant you.”

“S-same here,” Hinata replied, his face turning crimson. 

0000

Hanging around the boardwalk for a bit longer, Hinata and Tsumiki eventually found themselves approaching a Ferris Wheel as the sun began to set. With the nurse practically begging him to ride it with her, the two ended up seated on the ride, currently on the Wheel’s lowest altitude.

‘I can do this, I can do this,’ Tsumiki told herself as the ride began to start. “H-Hinata, can I ask you something?”

“Uh, sure,” Hinata replied, not noticing that she began scooting closer to him.

“T-this may be selfish of me to ask, but could you promise me to never leave me?”

*Scoot*

“...Never leave you?”

“Yeah. You see, ever since you entered my life, I-I’ve felt this immense happiness.”

*Scoot*

“You’ve given me the confidence to be myself.”

*Scoot*

“You’ve made me feel safe.”

*Scoot*

“You make me feel as if I can do anything.”

*Bump*

As they began reaching the highest point of the Ferris Wheel, Hinata finally noticed that the nurse was right next to him. Before he could react, the girl crawled on his lap and began straddling him.

“T-Tsumiki?!”

“You’ve given me the world and I don’t want to ever let you go. I-I love you Hinata, and I want to be with you for the rest of my life.”

It was at this moment, when the sun had officially set and they reached the top of the Ferris Wheel, that the boy felt a pair of soft lips come into contact with his. Tsumiki was kissing him. It was so gentle, yet so powerful. He couldn’t help but kiss her back, a tingling sensation leaving his body as he did. As he continued to kiss her, he realized some things were starting to make sense. The reason she’s been acting so weird lately, the reason why she wanted to share a room with him, it was because she liked him. While the boy would be lying if he said he didn’t have feelings for the nurse, he couldn’t believe she felt this way about him among all people.

Eventually, Tsumiki ended the kiss and gave him a smile worm by those with a schoolgirl crush. “I don’t know what I’d ever do without you, so please, don’t ever leave me, okay?”

Hinata tried to answer, but the fact Tsumiki had just kissed him prevented him from thinking straightly. He was struggling to breath, let alone formulate words. All he knew was that things will certainly be different from now on...


End file.
